


Boku No Pokemon Academia

by Bakufan15



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: All relationships are platonic, Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Battle Bond, Battle Bond Izuku, Battle Bond Riolu, F/M, Fluff, Gen, NOT PLATONIC ANYMORE BB, One For All still exists, Pokemon AU, Pokemon Battle, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, RELATIONSHIP TIME BOIS, Traumatized Izuku, YA'LL ORDER SOME...IZUOCHA ANGST?, but it isn't a quirk, for now..., quirkless au, slow-burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-05-01 01:04:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 87,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14509134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bakufan15/pseuds/Bakufan15
Summary: Izuku Midoriya has always wanted to be a trainer.  The type of trainer that helps people with a smile on their face, just like All Might.But he is traumatized as a child and can't even touch Pokemon, let alone own one and train one. Everyone tells him he can't do it, that he can't be a trainer, including his idol.Then, his life is changed forever when he rushes into danger to save a Pokemon in need.





	1. Izuku Midoriya: Origin

**Izuku Midoriya: Origin**

 

_Hey Everyone! I’m here with a new story that will update a little less often than my main story, but the chapters will be much longer and more thought out.  It’s a big project that I’ve made a massive plan for. I hope you guys enjoy it._

_I know I promised that I would upload this at 9pm eastern tonight, but something came up and I wasn’t able to upload it then, so I just decided to do it a late.  I hope it wasn’t too much of a inconvenience!_

_Note: Just some preface that will be explained, but also is nice to know going into it.  In this universe, there are no quirks. Essentially, battling Pokémon is illegal for everyone except for heroes, or they’re also called trainers in this universe.  So it’s basically the whole thing with using quirks without a license is illegal._

_Also, One for All still exists. I’ll explain everything about One for All in the next chapter. Long story short: It’s basically a super-powered “Battle Bond” ability.  It’ll all make sense in the next chapter when I do the full length explanation._

_Something to note as well:_ ** _BOLD ITALIC TEXT_** _means it is older Izuku talking, like he does in the beginning of the first two episodes.    Anyways! Enjoy this project I’ve been working on for about two weeks now!_

* * *

 

Pokémon had been around since before man. They came in many different shapes, sizes, and species. Ever since the dawn of society, people have been working alongside Pokémon, befriending them, loving them.  Pokémon have done everything from making jobs easier, to being mental assistants for people with mental issues.

The world become the modern society we live in today.  People have always been close to Pokémon, but that didn’t stop bad things from happening.  From underground Pokémon cage matches to violent crimes, villains have used Pokémon for malicious deeds.  In recent years, this has only gotten worse, and something needed to stop it.

Enter, the new profession, only dreamed of before hand.  The hero, known more commonly as ‘trainers’. While for the bulk of the population, training against other Pokémon and battling Pokémon is illegal, it is not for these groups of people. Trainers make it a profession to make themselves and their Pokémon partners stronger in order to fight crime.  

Of course, every child dreams of becoming a trainer.  It’s just the way it is. And Izuku Midoriya is no different.

 

_Many Years Ago…_  

 

Izuku was walking back home after school one day.  He was babying his leg, which had a long, angry red burn mark along the side.  Bakugo’s Cyndaquil could be feisty sometimes, especially when it came to Izuku.

Izuku had tried to protect a friend that Bakugo was attacking for no reason.  He had tried to be a hero, just like that famous trainer, All Might was. Standing up for what was right, all with a smile on his face.  Even limping home, leg burning, Izuku didn’t regret his decision.

_I can’t wait until I have a Pokémon of my own! Then I can battle Kacchan for real!_ Izuku thought, and the thought itself got the little boy extremely excited.  Bakugo had gotten a Cyndaquil for his sixth birthday.

Izuku was innocently skipping along the sidewalk when he heard some rustling in the alleyway to his right. Turning, he saw a small bill for ten-thousand yen sitting on the ground.  Izuku, being the innocent child he was, grew immediately concerned that someone had dropped their money.

_The right thing to do would be to return it!_ He thought happily, _That’s what All Might would do!_  Izuku limped over to the alleyway, and bent over to pick up the money.  

“Now time to-” He stood up, and now blocking the way between him and the exit of the alleyway was a small purple Rattata.  

“Hi there!” He said innocently, looking at the small Pokémon.  The rat just eyed him, not giving away any sort of emotion. Izuku heard rustling off to his side, and turned.   Then, Izuku realized just how many Pokémon he was surrounded by. There were three raticate, two more rattatas, and a trubbish all in the alleyway with him.

And they did not look happy.  Looking at the Pokémon, Izuku could see their ribs through their skin.   _They’re starving_ he realized.

“T-thanks all of you, but I-I really have to get home now!” Izuku said nervously, trying to walk out of the alleyway.  As he approached, however, the rattata blocking the way hissed at him, and Izuku took a panicked step backwards.

“H-Hey now! No need to get hostile! I just want to leave!” He threw up his arms, as if to show he wasn’t dangerous.  Looking around him, Izuku realized that the Pokémon were drawing closer, slowly closing the gap between them.

Izuku spun around, panicked.  He had nowhere to go. He was too far into the alley, nobody would be able to hear a call for help.

Izuku tried to run.  He wasn’t any match for the rat Pokémon.

Izuku didn’t return to his house that night.  There was an entire search, spanning the entire district of the city.  

When the police found him, late at night, Izuku was covered in bite marks, and he had a distant expression, staring off at the wall.

 

_Modern Day_

 

“It’s time to pick what high school you’re going to go to, and what department you’re going to apply for!” The teacher of Izuku’s middle school called out to the class.  There was some resound cheering from the classroom.

“You all have so many amazing Pokémon! I bet you’re all going to go for the Trainer and Hero departments, aren’t you!” The teacher continued, and was met with more cheering.  

“Hey teach! Don’t group me in with all these extras! I’m well and above them!” Katsuki Bakugo called out to the room, feet resting on the desk in front of him.  There was booing in the room.

“Hey, don’t call us extras!”  
“Isn’t Bakugo applying to Yuuei?”

“Don’t they have a less than .5% acceptance rate?”  

Bakugo laughed, “Yeah, they do! And I’m going to get in, because I’m the best! I’m going to be the only one in this shithole of a school that gets in!” Bakugo bragged, once again endorsed in his ego.  

Izuku was busy scribbling battle tactics in his notebook, so when a student mentioned his name, Izuku was shocked back to reality. “Isn’t Midoriya applying to Yuuei as well?”  Eyes turned to Izuku, and he shrunk into his chair, hoping to hide his face with his arms.

Then, the entire class broke into laughter once more, except this time it was directed at Izuku. It was common knowledge that Izuku didn’t have a partner, so how could he possibly get into Yuuei?

When Izuku glanced up for a moment, and saw a look of pure rage on Bakugo’s face.

_Oh no._ Izuku knew what was coming next.  When the entire class cleared out, Bakugo and his posse stayed behind.  Izuku was trying to pack up his things as fast as possible and get out, but was unfortunately too slow.

“Quilava! Flame Burst!” Izuku yelped as his desk was blown apart by a powerful explosion.  All of his things scattered onto the ground, and Izuku scrambled to retrieve it all, but was once again too slow. Bakugo’s hand whipped to the ground and picked up Izuku’s blue notebook, holding it into the air, flapping its pages around in the open space.

“Hero Analysis for the Future? What a joke?” Bakugo said, scowling at the pages in his hand, “Do you really think you can get into the hero course?”

Izuku raised his hands defensively, “Well I-” He was caught off guard when Bakugo’s hand shoved into Izuku’s shoulder, pinning him against the wall.

“You just what, you damn nerd?” He said aggressively, getting up in Izuku’s face.

“Well, I just thought it c-couldn’t hurt!”  Izuku said as innocently as possible, just wanting the conversation to end.  Bakugo wasn’t done, however.

“Well, hear me now and hear me clear! Don’t you dare apply to Yuuei! You hear me? I will be the only one from this damn school getting into that school, and I don’t need you in my way!” Bakugo spat.  Then, looking down at his quilava, who was standing a few feet back, he smirked. The Pokémon slowly walked towards Izuku and Bakugo.

“Plus-” Bakugo said with a shit-eating grin.  Izuku felt his heart start beating faster as the Pokémon approached.  His breathing sped up. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears as the Pokémon got inches away from where he was pinned to the wall.

_Please don’t please don’t_ he thought desperately.

“How can you be a trainer?”  Quilava shoved itself against Izuku’s hand lightly.  

Izuku froze on the spot.  His mind went blank. The only things that existed were him and the Pokémon touching his hand.  The memories of that night so many years ago running through his head.

“When you can’t even fucking _touch_ a Pokémon?” Izuku didn’t respond.  He couldn’t. Even when Quilava backed away and Bakugo started to leave, Izuku was still frozen.  On his way out, Izuku thought he heard Bakugo give his Quilava a command before throwing something out the window.  

“Fucking useless Deku.” He said, walking from the room.  It was a few minutes until Izuku regained his senses. It was another few before he found it within himself to start moving again.  

Izuku walked alone after school like normal.  It took him a while to fully go back to normal after an...encounter like that one.

Ever since the incident in the alleyway those years ago, Izuku had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.  Now, whenever he touched a Pokémon, or even got in too close of proximity of one, his entire body froze up. He couldn’t control it.

Did he still want to be a hero? A trainer?  Yes. More than anything.

Izuku passed what looked like a paper on the side of the sidewalk, in the fountain.  He looked at it, only to realize that it was his hero notebook Bakugo had singed and thrown out of the window.

“That’s not yours.” He said weakly, shooing away the Magikarp that were nibbling on the paper.  He dried off the booklet as much as possible before storing it once more in his backpack. Izuku passed into a tunnel, and was staring at the ground.  

Izuku heard the metallic klang of some metal colliding with concrete.  Spinning around, Izuku was met with a purple mass coming out of the manhole in the ground.  Izuku took a step back in shock as a man followed.

Izuku recognized the Pokémon as a grimer.

“Hey kid! This is a robbery! Hand over everything you’ve got or I’ll let my grimer suffocate you!” As if to emphasize the robber’s point, the grimer smirked and slid forwards, promoting Izuku to take a panicked step back.

“What’s it going to be? Your wallet, or dying?” The Villain siad.  Izuku was panicking. He didn’t know what to do. He tried to move his muscles, but they wouldn’t obey.  

“If that’s how you want it then.” The robber shook his head, “Grimer.”  The Pokémon slid forwards, gaining on Izuku. For the second time that day, Izuku’s body froze up.  The grimer slithered up to Izuku, wrapping its sludge body around him. Izuku didn’t even move.

“Not even going to fight back? At least make it a challenge, kid!” The villain joked.  Izuku didn’t hear him, however. He didn’t even notice when the Grimer covered his whole body, not allowing him to breathe.  

“Lucario!” Izuku felt a distant voice boom.

“ **TEXAS SMAASSH!** ” There was a blast of force, and the sludge covering his body was torn away.  Izuku only saw a glance of his savior before he knew no more.

* * *

 

When Izuku came to, he was laying on the pavement.  He groaned, sitting up.

“What-” He cut himself off as the memories flooded back. The villain, the grimer, then…

Izuku gasped, frantically looking around.  Then, he saw the man he was looking for. Standing in a tight white shirt and green cargo shorts with a Lucario next to him was the world’s number one Trainer, All Might. Izuku gasped.

“Oh, you’re awake!” All Might’s one-of-a-kind voice boomed.  Izuku was lost for words. He had almost died, only to be saved by his hero.  The person that inspired his entire life was standing in front of him.

_An autograph!_ Izuku panicked, fumbling with his backpack, searching for a paper.  The only thing there was his hero notebook. Frantically flipping, Izuku found the nearest open page, only to see that All Might had already signed it.

_He already did it!_ Izuku was freaking out.  Not that it was a bad thing.

“All Might You saved me!” Izuku ran over, frantically shaking the hero’s hand, then his lucario’s.  

“No problem, kid.  It’s our job, after all.” All might reassured.  Despite what had happened already, Izuku was having the best day of his life.  

* * *

 

Izuku was having the worst day of his life.  He watched his hero deflate like a balloon, turning from a large bulky superhero to an anorexic skeleton.  An anorexic skeleton that wasn’t sleeping. It was _horrifying._

“AHHH!” Izuku panicked. The next things he said came out of his mouth in the span of a millisecond.

“You’re not All Might!”

“Fake!”

“This can’t be happening!”

“Woah, kid! Calm down.  You could outrun a train with that mouth of yours.”  All Might, or at least what was left of him, said. Izuku stopped talking, opting to take deep breaths to calm himself down.

“Now, I assure you, I am All Might.” The skeleton man said.  Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by All Might speaking once again.

“Six years ago, I sustained an injury.” He lifted up his shirt to reveal a nasty looking scar that spread up his entire right side.

“Your fight with toxic chainsaw…” Izuku breathed.  All Might’s eyes showed recognition.

“So you know, then.  I did what I could to keep that result of that fight hidden.  The fight was not televised. During a battle, I took a direct hit from an villain’s pokemon.  It shattered my ribs and crushed my left lung. I’m lucky to have survived. But ever since then, I can only do hero work for about three hours a day.”  He explained.

“How does having an injury turn you into... _that_?” Izuku winced at his own wording.

“It’s kind of like flexing,” All Might explained, “Before my injury, I always looked like you see me on television. My body was in prime condition. Now, after suffering this injury, I can go back to that form for a limited time due to the power I share with Lucario. The rest of the time I’m stuck like this.”

Izuku was surprising himself with how well he was taking the discovery.  Hell, he had just discovered that the number one hero was crippled, and had barely reacted.

“Now, Kid.  I need you to promise me something.  You can’t tell anyone about this. It is essential that I keep this a secret from the public.  We need the symbol of peace to seem infallible in order to maintain peace. Can you do that for me?” Izuku furiously nodded in response.

“Good.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the police station.”  All Might got up and made his way to the stairway door. Izuku took a deep breath.

_Now is your time.  Now is when you can ask him the question you’ve been waiting to ask for years._ Izuku told himself.  He focused in his mind before opening his mouth.

“All Might, I want to ask you something.” He got it out, and All Might stopped and turned to Izuku.

“Yes, what is it?” He seemed genuinely intrigued.

“Can-” Izuku choked on the words.  It was hard to talk about this topic without getting emotional.  He already felt the tears forming at his cheeks.

“Can someone without a Pokémon become a hero?” He said, tears now running down his face.  He looked up and All Might had a look of mixed confusion and concern on his face.

“I-I have a problem.  I can’t-I can’t touch Pokémon.  Doctors say it’s PTSD.” All Might lowered his hand that had been reaching for the door.

“As a kid I-” Izuku couldn’t force himself to bring up the memories.  He just couldn’t.

“It’s alright. Don’t talk about them.” All Might sounded like he was trying to comfort Izuku as much as possible. Even when he didn’t know someone, or their life story, he tried to help.

“But I still want to be a hero! I want to help people! I want to save people with a smile on my face, just like you!” Izuku let the tears fall to the ground, “I want to be a hero, but I don’t have a Pokémon!  So just tell me! Can I be a hero without a Pokémon?” Izuku sobbed out.

All Might looked on him with a look of concern and empathy.  His neutral expression turned to a frown.

“In the job of being a hero, you will be fighting Pokémon all the time.  They are powerful creatures, and extremely dangerous. Without one…” He trailed off.  Then he said the words Izuku had heard so many times. Just hearing it from All Might made it official.

“You need a Pokémon to be a hero.  It is just the way it is. If you want to help people, join the police.  They also help people.” All Might stepped away, making for the door, leaving Izuku standing alone on the rooftop, unmoving.

“It’s good to dream.  But you also need to be realistic.  I’m sorry, son. It’s just the way it is.”  With that, All Might was gone, leaving Izuku to think over what he had been told.

* * *

 

“Someone help! There’s a Pokémon being attacked!” Someone called.  Kamui woods heard the call for help and ran in the direction of the sound.  He rounded a corner to see that an entire road’s worth of merchant stands had been abandoned.  Civilians were crowded around the entrance to the street.

“I’m here!” Kamui called out to the crowd, who proceeded to part ways for the trainer.  Kamui burst through the crowd and got a good look at the situation at hand.

There was a mass of purple sludge in the middle of the street.

_No not sludge,_ Kamui realized, _Those are Muk!_ There wasn’t a shortage of them, either.  There had to be at least seven Muk. But where is the Pokémon someone said was being attacked.

Then Kamui saw it.  In the middle of the mass of sludge was a small blue and black palm sticking out of the mass, frantically moving.  Kamui realized that the Muk were swarming on a small Pokémon, and it was suffocating.

“Those are too many poison types for my Trevanant to handle! I’ll leave this one to another Hero today!” Kamui backed off.  

Then, there was a noise of a Pokeball being thrown.  “Go Hitmonchan! Use Bullet Punch!” The punching hero, Death Arms called. His Pokémon materialized in the air and dashed towards the mass of sludge. Hitmonchan threw a powerful punch, but instead of blowing back the Pokémon like expected, the Pokémon’s fist sunk into the Muk’s body, dealing no damage.  In a panic, the hero recalled his partner.

“I’ll leave it to someone else today. I can’t do sufficient damage to them with physical moves.” The hero concluded.  

“Nor can I” A bird-looking hero added.

“Nor I.”

Kamui sat and watched the small Pokémon struggle for its life, hoping some kind of hero could come around to help it.

* * *

 

Izuku was walking home, his head sunk down between his shoulders. He had neither the energy nor motivation to keep his head aloft.  The words he had heard come from All Might’s lips were things he had heard many times before. Being told he couldn’t be a hero was something he had gotten used to.  

Just hearing it from All Might, the number one hero, however, made it all the more real.  While it had been discouragement before, it was now a reality. All that time spent memorizing Pokémon types, advantages, disadvantages, strengths, weaknesses, and so much more was all a waste.

Maybe he knew it had been all along.  Maybe he had just needed something to latch onto.  At this point he didn’t know.

All his life, Izuku had wanted to be a hero.  Without his dream, Izuku didn’t know what he was anymore. He didn’t know what to do now.  He hadn’t had a backup plan.

Izuku kept walking home.  

* * *

 

All Might made it down the staircase, and he was already out of breath.  

“Car?” Lucario made a sound from next to All Might, expressing his concern for his trainer.

All might smiled, “I’m fine, buddy.  Thanks.”

_Damn injury making me weaker by the day_  All Might cursed.  He pulled Lucario’s pokeball for the set of three on his belt.  

“Time to go.” All Might said and Lucario sighed, “I know you hate it, but we can’t be out in public together.”  All might apologized and recalled his friend to his pokeball. All Might opened the door of the building he was in and stepped out onto the sidewalk.

He made for the police station as fast as he could in his current state, so that he could report the location of the unconscious villain he had knocked out to save that green haired boy.  

_Maybe I was a bit too harsh_ All Might scolded himself.  Only after leaving the rooftop did All Might realize that what had said was a bit too blunt.  He had crushed the boy’s dreams. He had seen it in his eyes.

All Might silently cursed himself for not being more caring with his words.  It was a stupid mistake he was determined not to make again. All Might shook his head as he walked down the street, drawing glances from people as the passed him.  It wasn’t something he was unused to. Considering how unhealthy his body looked, he was surprised he didn’t get more weird looks.

“Help!” All Might’s head shot up when he heard someone yell into the street. All Might frantically looked around for any sign of villainy happening.  Up on the road about a block was a crowd of people gathered on the side of the road.

All Might picked up his pace, clutching his side as it burned in pain, protesting his every movement.All Might powered through though.  If something was wrong, he needed to make sure the situation was being handled.

All Might made it to the group of people, and collapsed into a streetlamp, clutching his side and barely able to move.  His entire left side was alight with a burning pain. All Might looked at what all the commotion was.

In the middle of the street was a mass of seven or eight Muk, surrounding...something. All Might’s breath hitched in his throat as he realized there was a Pokémon in the middle.

* * *

 

Izuku nearly passed by the group of people.  He was too enveloped in his thoughts that he didn’t even realize that he was passing by a large mass of people until he nearly ran into someone.  

Izuku tore his gaze away from the ground and noticed that all the people were shouting and looking in a certain direction.  Izuku considered just moving along, just keeping on with his day. But in the end, his curiosity got the better of him. If it was a hero incursion then...well, all of the old Izuku wasn’t gone.

Izuku pushed through the crowd to the front of the line, trying to get a better look on the situation.  He got through the mass of people and saw what the commotion was all about.

There was a mass of purple sludge in the middle of the road.  

_Muk or Grimer._ Izuku realized, but then frowned, _Why is a bunch of Muk and Grimer causing a commotion?  Wait, is that Kamui Woods? And Death Arms too?_

Izuku looked on the scene with even more confusion than before.   _What is going on?_

* * *

 

_Coward Coward! COWARD!_ All Might scolded himself as he watched the helpless Pokémon get swallowed by the massive Muk who where attacking it.

_Pathetic! You can’t just go for one more minute?_  All Might squeezed his side even more.  He couldn’t risk getting found out. One little Pokémon fight wasn’t worth the safety of the world.

But then All Might saw a mass break away from the crowd of civilians.

 

**_I think there were various reasons.  But at that moment..._ **

 

Izuku looked on the scene that was playing out in front of him, not realizing the commotion.  Until he saw the blue and black palm stick up from the sludge.

_That’s a...!_ Izuku realized with a start _That’s a Pokémon!_

Izuku’s legs moved before he even knew what he was doing.  Before his brain even had the chance to process what he was doing, his legs were carrying him at a full sprint at the group of Muk.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“Get Back here!”

“You’re going to get yourself hurt!”

Izuku didn’t hear any of them.  His legs carried his body towards the Pokémon in need of aid.  Izuku may be traumatized by them, and he may be unable to touch them, but he knows one thing.  He loves Pokémon. More than anything.

As Izuku’s legs carried him, he started to realize what he was doing, but there was no going back now, even if he had wanted to.

_What to do? Think!_  Izuku’s mind flashed to his many notebooks he had on different Pokémon and their strengths and weaknesses.  He visualized the page he had on Muk.

“That’s it! The body is liquid except for the eyes! Aim for the eyes!”  Izuku tore his backpack off his shoulder, throwing it with all the force he had at the Muk closest to the helpless Pokémon.  Books went flying from his bag, and one tumbled out, nailing the Muk directly in the eye. It howled with pain, releasing the Pokémon for a moment.  The face of the Pokémon was exposed for just long enough for it to grab a breath.

In that moment, Izuku recognized the Pokémon from his sketchbook.  An ultra-rare Pokémon, and the pre-evolved form of Lucario, Riolu. The Riolu gasped for breath as the Muk turned to Izuku.  Half of the Muk tore away from the group and advanced towards Izuku, while the other half stayed glued to the Riolu, smothering it.  

All of his thoughts and fears from injuries past vanished in that moment.  Izuku ran straight at the group of Muk, trying to push through the Pokémon as they stopped him.  He tore at their viscous liquid bodies with all the strength he had, to no avail. Yet, he kept trying.

 

**_It looked like it needed help._ **

 

* * *

 

“Pathetic.” All Might muttered, squeezing his side even more.  It was the boy from the roof. He was running at the Muk, fighting against them with everything he had, trying to get to the helpless Pokémon.  

“Pathetic!” All Might grumbled.

“Kid! Get away” One of the other heroes yelled.

“Why are you doing this! Let a hero handle it!”  Yet, none of the heroes moved. Not even All Might.

The boy turned back towards the group as he fought desperately against the Muk, tears in his eyes.  “It looked like it needed help!” He roared, voice thick with emotion. All Might saw one of the Muk advance towards the boy as he was turned around, preparing a move.

“Pathetic.”  

* * *

 

Izuku was trying with everything he had, but nothing was working.  Every punch or hit he tried to through at the Muk was sucked up. He turned and screamed at the pro heroes that were yelling at him to get back.

“It looked like it needed help!” He cried.  They wouldn’t do anything, so someone needed to.  Izuku turned back around to try to break through the wall of Muk once more.  The Riolu was looking at Izuku with wide eyes.

“Don’t worry! I’ll save you!” Izuku said to it.  Tears were falling from his face freely now.

Izuku didn’t even notice the Muk throwing a poison jab at him until it was too late.  The Muk already had the attack ready, and was swinging at him.

Izuku braced for Impact.  And then…

“Lucario!”  

When Izuku looked up from shielding himself with his arms, there was a tall blue Lucario standing in front of him, having blocked the punch.  

“I really am Pathetic.” All Might said from behind Izuku.  He was walking towards the danger, and his body was back in the buffed up form.

“All Might…”

“Even though I admonished you, I wasn’t putting what I said into practice!” All Might strode past Izuku, and the Muk backed away from the towering man and his intimidating partner.  

“Pro’s are always risking their lives!”  All Might dashed forwards at a speed faster than no human should be able to go.  He grabbed the Riolu’s hand before dashing back towards Izuku and gently setting its limp form in Izuku’s arms.

“Let’s go Lucario!” All Might draw his arm back in perfect synchronization with his Lucario, almost as if they had a mental link.  

“ **DETROIT SMASH!** ” The sheer force of the punch let a maelstrom of wind fly through the street.  Izuku had to hold the Riolu in his arms tight to keep from falling over of flying away.  

The Muk stood no chance.  The attack only hit one of the Muk directly, but all seven or eight went flying, practically vaporizing into tiny bits of sludge.  The wind pressure cleared from the street, and Izuku felt a splash of water on his skin. Then another.

Izuku looked up to see that the sheer change in wind pressure had caused it to start raining.  Izuku looked up to the body of the Riolu in his arms. It had passed out and was limp, but still breathing.  

Then Izuku realized yet another thing that shocked him.  What, did that make four things today?

He was holding the Riolu in his arms.  And he wasn’t frozen up. _He was touching a Pokémon._  The tears started up again, and All Might turned to look at Izuku.

“What’s wrong, kid?” He asked, concern in his dark eyes.  Izuku sniffled.

He gestured to the Riolu in his arms.   “I’m touching a Pokémon. All Might, I’m touching a Pokémon!”  Izuku let the tears fall. It had been so many years since he had been able to touch a Pokémon without having the memories come back.  All Might was only able to give a big smile before the crowd closed in on the two.

Izuku had been admonished for putting himself in danger like he had.  The police came around and cleaned up what was left of the Muk and took them to the pokecenter where they would be healed up before being released into the wild, hopefully not hurting anyone else.  

The paramedics came and checked up on Izuku, who ended up being fine despite the waterworks in his eyes.  They checked on the Riolu, who Izuku begrudgingly let out of his arms.

“It looks quite fine.  I’ll administer this super potion and then you can go on your merry way! Make sure he gets a lot of sleep and rest tonight, okay.?” The nurse said.

“Actually I-” Izuku was cut off by seeing the nurse already turned away _He’s not my Pokémon_ Izuku had wanted to say.  He looked down at the Pokémon sleeping in his arms.  

_I guess taking care of him for a night won’t hurt.  Also, she said “Him” so I’ll assume he’s male for now_ Izuku told himself.  With the Riolu in his arms, Izuku set off for home.

 

* * *

 

Izuku couldn’t help but feel a mix of disappointment and elation as he walked home.  On one hand, he was still bummed from the brutal reality that he had been presented with.All Might might have corrected himself on being hypocritical, but his point still stood.  

On the other hand, Izuku was cradling a Pokémon in his arms.  The Riolu was still out cold, but it's breathing had become constant.  Izuku’s breath, on the other hand, was pegged at a constant 120 beats per minute.  He was shocked that this Riolu was the one exception to his problem.

Time after time, Izuku had tried to force his way past his problem.  Counseling session after counseling session of facing down Pokémon, just to freeze up again.  Therapy hadn’t helped. Nothing had helped. But now, Izuku was able to touch this Riolu.

Did it mean that he was over his problem completely?  Did it mean that he could finally stop being made fun of at school? Izuku still didn’t know.  It was all new to him.

Suddenly, a form popped out from behind the concrete wall Izuku was walking next to.  

“I am here!”  All Might said triumphantly.  The man was in his hero form, and was standing tall.  His sudden appearance nearly gave Izuku a heart attack as he jumped back in shock.

“A-All Might?” Izuku exclaimed, being careful not to jostle Riolu, “What are you doing here? You were just surrounded by the news and-” All Might laughed loudly.

“Getting away from them was easy! Why?” He took a step back, flexing his large muscles, “Because I am All- _Blech!_ ” All Might deflated into the skeleton looking man Izuku had seen on the roof just a few hours previous, blood spurting from his mouth. Izuku blanched in horor.

All Might coughed, recovering as much as possible.  He lifted his hand to his chin, wiping away the blood, “Young Man, I have come with thanks, a correction, and a suggestion.”  

“Huh?”

“If you hadn’t come to me and told me about your life, If you hadn’t risked your life to save that Pokémon, I would have become a fake.  A hypocrite who couldn’t follow his own advice.”

“B-but it was my fault in the first place! If I hadn’t gone out into the battle like that…”

“Then that Pokémon in your arms would be seriously injured or dying right now.  If you hadn’t tried to save it, then nobody would have.” Izuku felt his voice catch in his throat. What was All Might trying to say?

“It was because of you, a civilian being on the scene,” All Might continued, “That I could spring into action.”

Izuku looked down on the sleeping Riolu in his arms.  

“Top trainers have stories of them from their early days.  They all have one thing in common: Their bodies moved before they had time to think.”

Izuku sucked in a sharp breath.  His mind flashed back to the moment he saw Riolu in need of help.  He had dropped his notebook and rushed into the fight, with no hesitation.  Izuku felt the pent up emotions rush to the surface.

All of the emotions he had been holding in over the past years surged to the surface all at once.  Izuku couldn’t stop the tears as the made their way onto his eyelids.

 

**_For Some reason, I remembered my Mother’s words._ **

**_“I’m Sorry, Izuku!”_ **

 

Izuku clutched the Riolu to his chest.  The entire front of his body was heaving from the force of the sobs that were forcing their way through their body.  Izuku couldn’t help but lean over as the tears streamed down his face.

“That was true for you, wasn’t it?” All Might gauged his reaction.  Izuku couldn’t manage much more than a nod. The memories of all the things that had discouraged him through the years replayed through his mind.

“Young Man, you’ve wanted to be a hero your entire life.” All Might continued, “That Pokémon in your arms is only there because of you.  Young Man, you are that Pokémon’s hero.”

 

**_That’s not it Mom.  Back then, what I wanted you to say…_ **

 

_“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”_

_“You should probably give it up.”_

_“I am diagnosing him with PTSD.”_

_“How are you going to be a hero if you can’t even touch Pokémon?”_  

 

**_The words I wanted to hear were…_ **

 

“You can become a hero.”  All Might finished. Izuku collapsed onto his knees, and let the tears fall.

 

**_Dreams can become reality_ **

  


**_By the way, I forgot to mention that this is the story of how I became the world’s greatest trainer…_ **

**_...Take that, Ash._ **

 

* * *

  
  


_Thanks everyone for reading my first chapter of this story! This has been a big project i’ve been working on behind the scenes for a little while now, and will continue to work on.  I already have the entire second chapter written!_

_Just so you know, this chapter and my main fic will alternate chapters, so next up is that one!_ **_Please review/leave a comment!_ ** _See ya soon!_

  
  



	2. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The explanation of One for All, and the start of Izuku's training

**Training**

_I just wanted to thank everyone for the support they showed me on the first chapter of this story! Almost 40 follows/20 kudos in the course of 24 hours! That's crazy! I'm super excited to keep this one going!_

_Anyways, here's the second chapter!_

* * *

 

"You can become a hero." All Might said as Izuku let the tears roll off of his face. All Might raised his arms to his sides. Izuku glanced up, tears still rolling down his face. Even in such a vulnerable form, All Might looked like a deity the way the sun shone behind him.

"You are worthy of inheriting mine and Lucario's power."

"Huh?" Izuku said ungracefully. It was a confusing statement.

"Inherit your...power?" Izuku asked.

"Haha! What's with that face?" All Might laughed, all seriousness gone from his tone. The sheer force of confusion caused Izuku to stop crying.

"Listen, young man!" All Might stuck his finger into the air triumphantly, "You need to decide whether or not you are going to accept my power!" As All Might bellowed, blood spurt from his mouth violently.

"Huh!?" Izuku scrambled back on his knees, conveniently falling onto his butt.

"I'm talking about my power!" All Might said it like it was an obvious statement.

"W-well it's true that the nature of the sheer power your Lucario has is hotly debated online, as nobody knows what move even has enough power to create wind pressure with a simple punch like you do, but I've always assumed that it was just well trained. You are the world's best trainer after all. And…" Izuku started to ramble. All Might just stood in confusion, looking at Izuku as he muttered up a storm.

"Hey kid! Put on the brakes!" All Might interrupted, causing Izuku to freeze mid sentence. All Might made sure he was done before continuing.

"My power was passed down to me like a sacred torch." Izuku just tilted his head in confusion, so All Might continued.

"One for All." All Might stretched his arms out to each side of him once more, and a breeze of wind passed by. Izuku got another glimpse of his gory wound to his side as his shirt lifted up in the wind.

"A power created long ago. The ability to stockpile power and pass it down to another person, who then stockpiles more power and passes it down."

"So like a superpower?" All Might shook his head.

"Not exactly. There is one example that I can think of that would explain the situation. Do you know the ancient stories of the battle bond Greninja?" Izuku's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Yeah! An ancient trainer that was so close to his pokemon that he was able to synchronize with his Greninja, allowing them to pass to supreme levels of power!" Izuku retold the ancient tale, "But everyone knows that's a myth!"

All Might shook his head once again, "That is not a myth. That trainer and his Greninja are the first holders of One for All." Izuku was shocked.

"One for All is both a technique and an ability that is passed down from holder to holder. Each successive holder is more powerful than the last. I am the eighth holder of One for All, and I have chosen you to be the ninth." All Might scratched the back of his neck, "Assuming you want to, of course."

"Wait, what? How does this work?" Izuku was both confused and completely shocked by the situation.

"One for All grants immense power to the pair that it is passed down to. The hits you see my Lucario put out are due to One for All's power. The pokemon isn't the only one affected, though. There is a leakage of power from the pokemon's side of the power that affects your own body while it is active. That power is what allows me to stay in that muscle form for three hours a day. It grants me speed and strength above that of a normal human, but it doesn't grant me super strength or anything like that." All Might explained, "To put the power into perspective, while a normal person would be able to lift possibly two hundred pounds, I would be able to lift eight hundred."

"Woah…" Izuku marvelled. Not only was he discovering that All Might had some ancient power that granted him speed and strength, but now he was offering to transfer that power to  _Izuku_.

"The pokemon's side of the power is much more powerful, though. The power really resides in them." All Might said. "So what do you say? I know it can be-"

"I'll do it." Izuku said immediately, cutting All Might off.

All Might laughed, "An immediate answer! Just what I was looking for!" Something in particular stuck out in Izuku's mind.

"Wait, All Might! You said that it's a bond between trainer and pokemon!" Izuku realized the implication of what he had said, "I don't…" he trailed off.

"I believe you do." All Might gestured to the Riolu resting in Izuku's arms.

"I'm just taking care of him for the night!" Izuku protested. All Might laughed again. He had a tendency to do that.

"You may say that now. But when that youngling comes to, I don't believe he will want to leave. You saw how he had been out in the streets alone. That one is not more than a few months old. It probably doesn't have anywhere to go."

Izuku hadn't thought about that. Considering that it had gotten into a fight with a bunch of Muk, and the fact that it hadn't had a trainer or companion to help it out meant that it had probably accidentally picked a fight with the wrong crowd. The more Izuku thought about it, the more he loathed setting it off into the dangerous streets of Tokyo again.

Izuku breathed out, thinking.

"I'll let you go home and think about it. Talk to him when he wakes. I think you'll make the right decision." All Might said, and Izuku let out a breath of relief. He had a lot to think about. "Meet me at the Dagobah Beach tomorrow at sunrise." All Might instructed.

Izuku responded with a nod.

* * *

 

Izuku walked home with Riolu in his arms. He drew gazes from some pedestrians as they passed by, but none of them questioned it or were rude about it. It was more out of curiosity.

Izuku had a lot to think about. All Might had offered to pass on his power to Izuku. The number one trainer, All Might, had done that for Izuku. The same Izuku who had been unable to touch any pokemon in any way up until an hour ago. It was a lot to take in, to say the least.

Izuku got to his and his mom's apartment. It was a small staircase that led to the door, but going up it felt like a lifetime. He knew his mom would have been worried sick from the moment she saw the incident on the news. It made Izuku feel bad that he had taken so much time to get home.

He took a deep breath before turning the door handle. The second the lock clicked open, Izuku heard a scream come from the kitchen.

"Izuku!" His mom wailed, running at Izuku with arms wide for a hug. Izuku panicked, realizing that he was still holding Riolu.

"Mom wait!" Izuku said frantically. His mom skidded to a stop in her frantic run to Izuku. She got a good look at Izuku and realized what she had missed. Cradled in Izuku's arms was a pokemon.

"AHH!" Inko screamed. "Izuku! I-is th-that?"

Izuku smiled, "Yes, mom. It's a pokemon." He couldn't keep the sound of pure joy from his voice.

"And y-you're…" She had tears collecting at the corners of her vision.

"And I'm holding it." Izuku finished, "I'm touching a pokemon, mom."  
Inko couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She broke the dam on her tears, letting them come in waterfalls. Izuku was tearing up as well.

"My baby Izuku!" Inko cried, holding Izuku's face in her hands, "I'm so proud of you!"

Izuku scratched the back of his neck with one hand, "Thanks, mom."

"I saw you on the news, and I was so worried, and then All Might came around and…" His mom continued fretting, mumbling almost as bad as Izuku tended to.

"I'm alright now, mom. Really." Izuku tried to comfort her. Inko sniffled and rubbed away the tears with her sleeve.

"I'm just so glad you're safe!" She finished.

"I am too. I would still do it all over again." Izuku admitted. His mom just nodded in understanding. She knew that he wanted to be a hero, and she knew that no matter what she did, she couldn't stop him. Nothing would come in between that boy and his dream.

"Why do you have this pokemon still?" Inko asked innocently.

"The nurse said it needed to rest for the night. I decided that it could just stay over for tonight. Is that okay?" Inko furiously nodded.

"Of course!" She said, as if the answer was obvious, "I'm so proud of you, Izuku."

"Thanks mom." Izuku walked down to his room. He opened the door and stepped inside, and was met with many pictures of All Might's face, along with posters of Lucario.

Izuku went over and carefully set Riolu on his bed.

_There's nothing I can do until he wakes up_  Izuku surmised, so he went over and pulled out his bookbag and grabbed his homework, setting it on his desk. Just because he's going through a lot doesn't mean that the world stopped for him. He still had homework due at the end of the weekend.

* * *

 

As much as Izuku had tried to focus, he hadn't been able to get anything done. He just had too much on his mind. All the things that had happened today were overwhelming.

Izuku shook his head, turning back to his blank paper in front of him. He picked up his pencil and hovered it above his paper.

And then he heard a noise. It was a simple rustling of sheets, but at the sound, Izuku froze.

"Lu?" A small voice said to the room. It sounded confused. Izuku slowly turned around to see Riolu, awake and sitting up in Izuku's bed. The first thing Izuku did was have a miniature heart attack.

Riolu was sitting up, and after seeing Izuku move, it was looking directly at him. Riolu tilted his head, causing Izuku to break from his suptor.

"H-hi." Izuku said nervously. Riolu just looked at him like he didn't know what was going on.

"I-I'm Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku stuck out his hand, trying to break the tension. Riolu looked down at the outstretched hand, eyes bouncing between Izuku and the hand.

"Rio?" Riolu inquired. Izuku tried to keep his nervousness in check as Riolu stood up off the bed. The pokemon hopped onto the floor, standing up straight. At full height, Riolu barely reached Izuku's mid thigh.

"Can you understand me?" Izuku asked. Maybe the pokemon didn't know what Izuku was saying.

"Riolu." The pokemon nodded.

_Great, so either he's just as nervous as I am, or he was ignoring me._  Izuku thought. He hoped it was the former.

Izuku took a deep breath

"I'm the one that saved you." He said quickly. The Riolu's head snapped up to look Izuku in the eyes. Just then, in his eyes, Izuku saw a flash of recognition. The Riolu took a step back in shock. It looked up and down Izuku, as if he were checking if it was all real.

Izuku got off of his chair and got on his knees in front of Riolu. He remembered his teachings from his therapist.  _Get on their level. You'll seem less intimidating that way_

Riolu seemed wary of Izuku, but he didn't back away. So Izuku stuck out his hand again, trying to greet the pokemon as friendly as possible.

"You were getting attacked, and nobody would do anything. I couldn't sit and watch." Izuku explained. Izuku couldn't read pokemon's expressions as well as he could read regular people's expression, but he thought he saw something change in Riolu's face. Like the strong facade it was putting on was breaking.

Izuku kept his hand outstretched, hoping that the pokemon would shake it, "I'm not here to hurt you. I promise. I could never-" He cut himself off when he realized why the pokemon was so wary.

_This is all new to him..._ Izuku realized. Izuku lowered his hand back to his side slowly.

"You're scared." Izuku breathed, "you're terrified…" The stern expression on Riolu's face faltered, giving way to a face of shock.

"You've never experienced this before, have you? You grew up on the streets your whole life, where everything is hostile and wants to hurt you." Izuku went on, "You've never been shown kindness. This is all new to you…" Riolu's face didn't change.

"I know how you feel." Riolu's shock worsened, but Izuku kept going.

"Your entire life you've spent running away from threats, just trying to get by, haven't you? I know what it's like to be scared, all the time. It never goes away, does it? A constant, looming fear that takes over and doesn't leave. It's what you've dealt with your whole life, right?" Izuku felt his own tears surface, collecting at the corners of his eyes.

_That's three times today…_  he told himself. But he saw something else in Riolu's face at that moment. A sliver of wetness.

"I didn't rush in to save you because I wanted something out of you." Izuku told the pokemon. Riolu looked Izuku in the eyes, just as tears started to roll down Izuku's face.

"I saved you because...because you looked like you needed help. I couldn't just stand around and watch you get hurt!" Izuku cried. The pokemon's defensive position softened, and Izuku saw his body shivering.

Izuku stuck out his hand again. "I promise I won't hurt you. I won't let anyone ever hurt you again." It was a bold promise, but Izuku had every intent of keeping it. The Riolu looked at it and started to move.

Yet, instead of shaking Izuku's hand like he had hoped, Riolu threw itself into Izuku, wrapping his small arms around him. Riolu buried his face in Izuku's shoulder, and he could feel the tears leap free of the pokemon's eyes. Izuku wrapped his arms around Riolu, letting him cry, and admittedly, Izuku cried a little too.

Riolu's body shook with the force of its sobs. "I won't let anyone hurt you again." Izuku promised.

Once Riolu finished, he stepped away from Izuku, wiping his eyes. Izuku saw it now. Riolu had been thankful the whole time, but he had been weary due to his rough past. Izuku glanced over at the distinct white ball he had sitting on his desk. Izuku still saw the memory as fond.

It had been about a year before Izuku's run in with the pokemon in the alley. Izuku and his mom were walking in the shopping mall, and as always, they stopped by the pokemon gear shop for Izuku. Inside, Izuku had been entranced by a certain deal.

A premier ball on sale. It was a very rare variety of ball that was all white with a red crease that separated the two halves. Izuku had refused to leave unless his mom bought it for him, and Inko had complied.

Izuku smiled at the fond memory. Ever since then, Izuku had kept the ball on hand, for the day that he might need it. He reached over and picked it up, brushing off the dust that had accumulated on it. He rolled the ball in his palm.

Riolu walked over, looking at the ball in Izuku's palm with curiosity.

"It's a premier ball. A fancy type of pokeball." Izuku explained, "I always kept it around in case I got over my fear of pokemon."

"Riolu?" he tilted his head in confusion.

"I have this...problem. A long time ago…" Izuku didn't want to elaborate. If he did, then the memories might return. "A long time ago I had a...run in with some wild pokemon. It didn't go well. The doctors diagnosed me with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Ever since then, I haven't been able to touch pokemon without freezing up."

Riolu tilted his head, and placed his hand on Izuku's. Izuku realized what he was trying to say,  _Then why can I touch you?_

"I don't know why you're different. For some reason, you're the one exception in over ten years." Riolu didn't have much of a reaction, other than a sad look in his eyes.

Izuku reached to put the premier ball back on the shelf where it came from, "I'll probably never use it, but it's nice to keep around."

Riolu's hand shot out, grabbing Izuku's wrist before he could put away the ball.

"Huh?" Riolu took his other palm and pushed the button on the center of the ball, enlarging it to full size before pointing to the button again.

"What?" Izuku knew what Riolu was trying to say, but the sheer thought shocked him, "You want to...go inside?"

Riolu jumped up, throwing his arm into the air triumphantly, "Riolu!" Izuku almost fell over. He had seen the possibility ever since All Might suggested it might happen, but Izuku hadn't expected it to become a reality.

"Are you sure? You want to become-" Izuku choked up, and his next words came out as barely more than a whisper, "...my Pokemon?" Without a moment's hesitation, Riolu cheered again, nodding.

Izuku didn't know what to say. Years of being afraid of pokemon to having his own...Izuku  _almost_  started to tear up again.

"I-If you want to?" It came out as a question. In response, Riolu jumped up, slapping the centerpiece of the ball. It opened, calling Riolu inside in a beam of red light. The pokemon was absorbed into the ball, which proceeded to close and shake once. Twice. Three times. Finally, with a distinctive  _ding_  the ball stopped shaking.

In response to the ball stopping its shaking, Izuku's hand started to shake.

_Finally...after all these years...I have a pokemon of my own…_

* * *

 

Izuku woke up the next morning with renewed vigor. Everything seemed to be going right for once, and nothing could stand in Izuku's way. He shot out of bed as his alarm clock went off, signaling that it was five thirty in the morning. Just enough time to get showered and show up at the beach to meet All Might.

Izuku nearly had a heart attack when he heard a yelp of surprise. Izuku spun around and saw Riolu laying at the end of Izuku's bed. He had forgotten he left the pokemon out of his pokeball for the night. The memories of the previous night were still fresh in Izuku's mind.

"Good Morning, Riolu!" Izuku greeted, with significantly more energy than he ought to have. Riolu sat up, rubbing his eyes before yawning.

"We have to go to the beach this morning, remember?" Izuku had explained the entire situation to Riolu the previous night, and although he was a bit foreign to the concept of heroes, he had been nearly as excited as Izuku.

Izuku reluctantly recalled Riolu into his pokeball. He went through his morning routine as quickly as possible, not wanting to be late. He finished up getting dressed and went to the kitchen, to see his mom already up and making breakfast.

"You're up awfully early, Izuku!" Inko greeted.

"Yeah, I need to meet…" He trailed off, remembering his promise to keep All Might's interactions with him a secret. "Someone this morning. Plus, I want to go around town with Riolu for a little while!" He hoped his excuse would sound reasonable. Izuku wasn't shocked when he saw his mother tearing up once more.

"I can't believe my baby finally has a pokemon of his own!" Izuku braced for impact as his mother threw her arms around him, enveloping them in a tight hug. Izuku stayed put for a little while. While he enjoyed his mother's hugs, they tended to happen way too often.

"Mom, you'll burn breakfast…" Izuku warned. Inko reluctantly withdrew, turning to her sausage and bacon that was cooking on the stovetop. Izuku calmly waited for the food to be ready, rubbing his hand along the white pokeball in his pocket.

Izuku scarfed down his meal, and not a moment later was bolting out the door. "See ya, mom!"

Izuku knew the way to Dagobah Beach. It was old and run down, and tended to be a site for illegal dumping. Other crimes such as illegal fights and drug deals took place in the same area as well.

Izuku made it just as the sun peeked in the distance over the horizon, though Izuku could barely see it between the heaping piles of trash. He walked down the sidewalk adjacent to the beach, fiddling with Riolu's pokeball in his pocket.

Soon enough, Izuku saw a familiar figure in the distance. All Might in his regular, scrawny form was standing off in the distance. Izuku picked up his pace, and as he got close, started waving.

All Might turned, smiling as Izuku approached.

"Good mourning, young Midoriya." He greeted, "You're just on time."

"I tried." Izuku responded.

"How did things go with young Riolu?" Izuku smiled. He reached into his pocket, pulling out the primarily white pokeball and enlarging it to its full size.

"Come on out, Riolu!" Izuku said, voice full of pride, as he threw the pokeball into the air. It opened, and a white-blue light shot out, forming into the shape of Riolu. Izuku caught the pokeball and stuck it back in his pocket.

Riolu looked around, and his eyes fell on Izuku. All Might crouched down, getting on Riolu's level.

"Hello there, young Riolu!" All Might greeted. Riolu nearly jumped out of his skin, jumping back in an instant, landing behind Izuku, using his leg like a shield.

"It's alright. He's the one I told you about." Izuku lowered his voice, "All Might." He said it so that no passerby's could overhear. Riolu looked between the skeleton man and Izuku, as if he were judging the situation.

Deciding to trust Izuku, he stepped out from behind Izuku, looking All Might in the eye.

"Still a bit weary, huh? It's all right. Understandable." All Might stood up, "It's still nice to meet you."

All Might started walking down to the beach covered in garbage, waving an arm for Izuku to follow. Izuku and Riolu complied, tailing All Might through a maze of trash until they came to a clearing that was surrounded on all sides by mounds of trash.

_Nobody could see in here…_  Izuku realized why All Might had chosen this spot.

"All Might? What exactly are we doing here this morning?" Izuku got the question that had been bugging him all morning off his chest.

"The start of your training, of course!" All Might threw his arms wide, "We will be training here every morning between now and the Yuuei entrance exam. I've made a training plan and everything!" All Might stuck out his hand, revealing a stack of papers.

Izuku looked through it with shock. Every single day of his life between now and the Yuuei entrance was planned out, to the hour. It had weightlifting times, Beach time (Whatever that meant), his diet, his training time with Riolu,  _everything_.

"If you want to get in shape for me to pass on my power to you, you will need to follow that plan exactly." All Might explained.

"Why do I need to do that in order inherit your power? I thought you already said that I proved myself worthy of your power?"

All Might stuck up two fingers, "There are two things you need in order to be able to take the power. One is a physically fit body. The sheer amount of power would kill and unprepared vessel." Izuku had the image in his limbs being violently ripped from his body. The thought made him shudder.

"The other requirement is a strong bond between pokemon and trainer." Izuku and Riolu looked at each other. "Without absolute trust and caring between the pair, the bond will not work. You could sense the power, but nothing would happen if you tried to use it."

"So?"

"So, you and Riolu are going to spend every possible moment together. Eat together. Sleep together. Train together. Everything. The only time he should ever be inside that pokeball is when you're in school. You got it? We will also be doing exercises to build trust when you are training with me." Izuku gulped, but nodded.

On the inside, Izuku was giddy. It was everything he dreamed of, coming to fruition. One thing bugged him still.

"What is this 'beach time' you have written in on the schedule?" Izuku pointed to the time slot set aside.

"Ah that." All Might gestured to the beach around him. "You will be cleaning up this mess of a beach. I'm sure you know how bad it is. One of the most important virtues of a hero is community service."

Izuku blanched. He looked around at the sheer mass of trash around him.

_I have to clean...all of this?_  Riolu looked equally shocked and intimidated.

"Enough with the formalities. Time to do what else we came here for." All Might unhooked a pokeball from his belt. Izuku tilted his head in confusion as Lucario materialized.

"You're going to fight me." Izuku's jaw dropped to the floor.

"I-I'm going t-to f-f-f-fight y-you?" Izuku could barely formulate words.

"Well, kind of. I'll let Riolu attack Lucario for a while. We don't know what his battling capabilities are, much less his moves that he knows. I would like to get a good starting point." All Might explained. Izuku felt a little less intimidated now that he realized it wasn't a real fight.

Riolu, however wasn't moving. Izuku thought something was wrong until he saw the pokemon's face.

Riolu was frozen, staring at All Might's Lucario, an expression of reverence on his face.

"I think you've got yourself an admirer, Lucario." All Might chuckled. Riolu still hadn't broken from his trance. The more Izuku looked at Riolu staring at Lucario, the more he was reminded of himself. The way he looked at All Might's partner was very akin to the way Izuku admired All Might himself.

"Alright buddy! We have things to do!" Izuku snapped in front of Riolu, moving him from his suptor. Izuku moved to the other side of the clearing, leaving a good distance between All Might and himself.

"Ready?" All Might asked. Izuku nodded in response.

"Battle start!"

"Alright Riolu! This is both of our first times, so let's make it good!" Riolu turned its head just enough to give Izuku a confident smile. Izuku smiled back.

"Go Riolu! Run at him with uhh…" Izuk hesitated, "Whatever move you have?" Riolu broke into a sprint, keeping his center of mass close to the ground. As he got close, he reared back his right arm, which was glowing softly.

Riolu jumped off the ground when he was a couple feet from Lucario, throwing his arm forward. All Might's lucario raised his arms in a cross-shape in front of him, catching the blow. Riolu jumped away, retreating.

"Force Palm. eh? Pretty Standard for Riolu and Lucario." All Might said. Izuku nodded.

_So, we have Force Palm. What else?_

"Riolu! Go at him again! Use something else this time!" Riolu, however, did not move. He just turned around and gave Izuku a helpless look.

"Do you...not have another move?" Riolu shook his head.

"So you do have another move?" Riolu nodded, "What's wrong then."

Riolu just had an exasperated look on his face. He pointed at Lucario across the way, then gestured for him to come over. It clicked in Izuku's mind.

"I think he wants Lucario to attack him." Izuku called over to All Might. The older man responded with a confused look, so Izuku elaborated.

"Some moves require other pokemon to make the move first. I think The other moves he has are like that." Izuku explained his theory, and Riolu cheered in confirmation.

"All right, Lucario. Go super easy, all right? We don't want to hurt anyone." All Might instructed. Lucario, who was previously standing still with a nonchalant attitude spang into action, spreading his feet into a battle stance.

"Riolu! Let's go! Go at him with Force Palm!" Izuku called out. Riolu was so busy ogling over Lucario again that he nearly missed the command. Nonetheless, he sprang into action, dashing at the taller pokemon.

As Riolu got close, All Might and Lucario nodded in unison, like they had some kind of mutual understanding. Riolu spang to unleash his attack, but Lucario caught the attack with one arm. The other arm wheeled back, becoming shrouded in a gray light, before turning the entire arm into steel.

Lucario thrust his arm forwards, catching Riolu in the ribs, launching him from Lucario's grasp.

"Riolu!" Izuku said, nearly rushing onto the field. All Might held up his hand.

"He's alright." All Might affirmed. True to his words, Riolu got up, brushing the dust off of him, giving Izuku a smile. Izuku let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"Okay Riolu! Use what you wanted to get attacked for!" Izuku commanded. Riolu closed his eyes before becoming enveloped in a blue aura for a moment. His eyes snapped open and he dashed towards Lucario.

As the pokemon ran, his arm became sheathed in a gray light, just like Lucario's had, before hardening into steel. He threw himself at Lucario again, who blocked the attack, bouncing away.

"What was that?"

"From the looks of it, young Riolu knows Copycat. It allows the user to use-"

"The last move used on the field" Izuku finished, remembering the entry from his notebook. All Might smiled.

"You are just a fanboy aren't you?" All Might teased.

"Not anymore. I've got Riolu now!" Izuku said cheerfully, then turning to his partner, "Anything else?" Riolu nodded, clenching his fist.

"Alright then! Let's go! Use force palm!" Izuku called, having Riolu run at his opponent for a third time. He knew in a real battle this would be an idiotic move, but well, this wasn't a real battle.

Riolu jumped at Lucario, who grabbed Riolu once again, just like he had the previous time. Lucario readied another steel attack, but something changed.

Riolu was glowing in a soft red aura. When Lucario launched his attack, it collided with Riolu, but before he could fly away, Riolu  _grabbed_  onto Lucario's arm. Riolu yanked, flipping Lucario over his shoulder, where the older pokemon slammed into the ground.

"Hey! We got a hit in!" Izuku cheered, "Was that counter?" Riolu nodded. All Might's Lucario groaned on the ground. Counter doubled the damage that the user had just taken, so Lucario's own powerful attack had been redirected at him.

"Is that it for your moves, Riolu?" All Might asked as Lucario got up off the ground. The small pokemon nodded in confirmation. "I think we can call this battle over then."

Izuku met All Might in the middle with Riolu. Izuku patted Riolu's head affectionately.

"You did great, buddy."

"As did you." All Might said, "For a person with no battle experience, at least."

"Heh. Thanks, All Might." Izuku responded.

All Might spent the last of the time they had going over the training plan. It was hard, gruelling, and would require immense dedication. The training alone would be a handful, but he had it on top of schoolwork.

Yet, neither Izuku or Riolu were going to back down. They had a goal to chase, and nothing was going to stand in their way. The were going to do this plan and get into Yuuei. They had to.

And thus began Izuku's ten months of hell.

* * *

 

_Thanks for reading! Tell me what you thought in the comments down below! Next up is a main story chapter, but after that, it's another installment of this! I'm trying to keep these chapters pretty lengthy, so tell me how you like that style as well._

_**P.S. please review!** _


	3. The Entrance Exam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I had to get done with school and write my other chapter to You Are My Hero! Anyways, here you are~!

**The Entrance Exam**

_Hey everyone! I just wanted to thank everyone for the support I've gotten with this story!_

* * *

 

Izuku and Riolu fell into a pattern. Get up early, go on a run before school started. Then, Izuku would go to school, before coming home and eating a quick dinner. After that, he would meet All Might for training. It alternated between regular weight training and cleaning up the beach. Then, twice a week, Izuku would have pokemon battle training with All Might.

It was akin to lessons in battling. Izuku and Riolu would attack Lucario, and All Might would point out his errors, where he did well, where he could improve, and so on. Sometimes it would be Izuku making a bad call, which in a real battle situation would lead to Riolu getting hurt, and sometimes it would be a simple recommendation.

Izuku was learning, though he didn't think it was fast enough. All of his mock-battles were Riolu on the offensive, with Lucario not fighting back most of the time. It didn't feel like a real battle. When he brought his concerns up to All Might, the trainer had brushed it off.

"Some skills are more important than others." He had said.

There were three months left until the entrance exam, and Izuku was feeling the progress. His previously skinny body was much more well-toned now. His biceps were actually visible now, and the rest of his body was fleshed out as well. His relationship with Riolu had strengthened substantially.

It had started out uncomfortably for the both of them. It was awkward and uncomfortable at times, and they even butted heads occasionally. Over time, however, that tension completely disappeared. Instead of feeling tense around Riolu, Izuku now relaxed. Instead of being tentative, Izuku now couldn't wait until he left school so that he could get Riolu out of his pokeball.

They had become best friends.

Part of it was because neither of them had ever really had friends in the past. In fact that was certainly a factor. Yet, that didn't make their friendship any less valid. Outside of school, the two were practically inseparable at this point.

There was one thing Izuku had chosen to do, though, that he thought was for the best, but Riolu disagreed on…

* * *

 

_Three months until the exam. I really hope Riolu and I are ready by then. The beach is still a long way from being finished…_  Izuku thought as he packed up his bag at the end of the school day. Izuku stood up, and was met with the scowling face of Bakugo.

"Ahh!" Izuku yelped, jumping back, "Kacchan!"

"Shut up, nerd, and listen to me." Bakugo took a menacing step towards Izuku. Izuku's hand shot to his pocket by instinct, grasping Riolu's pokeball in case he needed it. Quilava was out, standing on its back legs next to Bakugo. Izuku's breath sped up.

That was something else Izuku had discovered. His PTSD hadn't magically gone away. The only pokemon he could touch without freezing up was Riolu and All Might's Lucario. Thus, as Bakugo's Quilava approached, Izuku started to have a panic attack.

"Calm your ass down. I'm not here to have Quilava attack you." Bakugo said, "I'm here to ask you something."

"W-what is it, Kacchan?" Izuku stuttered.

"I want to know why the fuck you're training. I already told you not to apply to Yuuei, so it had better not be that, else I might let Quilava take a shot at you…" He sneered.

"Umm...I-"

"It's not like you have a pokemon anyways. What's the point?"

That's right. He had chosen to keep Riolu a secret from everyone except for All Might and his mother. It was probably a stupid decision, and Riolu didn't like it, but Izuku thought it was for the best. He didn't know what everyone's reaction would be, and he was scared of what Bakugo might do in the case that he found out. So Izuku kept it hidden. So far, nobody had seen him with Riolu or found out, much to Izuku's relief.

"I-I-" Izuku stuttered, not knowing what to say. He needed to come up with an excuse, and fast.

"Spit it out, Nerd!" Bakugo spat.

"I-I'm going for general studies!" It was the first thing Izuku could think of that would snuff out Bakugo's temper. It was a blatant lie, but Izuku didn't care right now. His hand tightened around Riolu's ball.

Luckily, Bakugo just snorted and stepped back, "Good. You had better not be going for the hero course." he said, walking away. Only once Bakugo was out of the room did Izuku let out his pent up breath.

* * *

 

_Exam day_

Toshinori woke up on the day of the Yuuei entrance exam early. Today was the day that Izuku Midoriya would complete his training and take his first step to becoming a hero.

Or at least, All Might hoped.

The boy was strong spirited, determined, and possessed every trait a hero needed. The problem was that the young boy was unconfident and inexperienced. Toshinori genuinely hoped that his intense training he had put the boy through was enough.

Toshinori made his walk down to the beach to meet Izuku. He knew that the beach wouldn't be finished. The task was daunting, and Toshinori himself would be hard pressed to finish such a project on top of the other responsibilities he had, and Izuku had even more.

As he got a good glimpse of the horizon, something seemed off. The sun was easy to see, not obstructed by immense piles of garbage. Toshinori picked up his pace and saw that not only the section he had asked Izuku to clean was cleared, but  _all_  of the beach was. Not a single speck of trash left in sight.

There was a guttural screech, and Toshinori's head snapped towards the commotion. Standing atop of a pile of discarded metal, was Izuku and Riolu. Izuku had his shirt torn off, and he was shrieking into the sky. Only then did Toshinori realize what had happened overnight.

"Oh my… oh my….  **Goodness!** " He said, skeletal mouth agape. Then, he saw Izuku waver atop the mountain of trash. Sensing the impending doom, All Might did the first thing that came to mind.

"Catch Izuku!" All Might said, throwing out Lucario's pokeball from his belt. The pokemon materialized on the beach just in time, as Izuku's body fell into his arms. "Good Job!" All Might called, running down the steps.

There was one significant limitation to the strength boost All Might got because of One for All. Lucario had to be out of his ball in order for it to work. That in addition to his time limit he already had due to his injury.  
Moreover, even if Lucario had been out of his ball, All Might himself wouldn't had been able to make it that far in time. The bond made him stronger and faster while active, but it wasn't super strength. The real power is on the pokemon's side of the bond. Now,  _that_  could be called super speed and strength.

All Might made it down to the beach, though the trek made him winded.  _Damn injury..._  he thought to himself. Lucario set Izuku back on the sand, and Riolu made it back down to the beach with a few short hops, much more gracefully than Izuku's method.

"You did it, young Midoriya." All Might said, ruffling the boy's hair. He was proud of the boy, he really was.  
"It's all because of you." Izuku said, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Nonsense! This is all a result of your hard work and determination!" All Might said, and Lucario grunted in affirmation, "Now, the entrance exam is in a few hours. You're ready, whether you believe it or not. You've trained this whole time, and you'll do just fine."

Izuku started rambling, as he tended to do. While he waited for the boy to finish, Toshinori mentally prepared himself. He was going to repeat the most important words he had ever heard.

"Now listen up, kid." All Might echoed Shimura Nana's words, "There is something you need to know before I give you this."

Izuku stopped his muttering, looking up at his mentor. All Might took a deep breath before continuing. He had practiced this speech in front of the mirror to ensure that he didn't get emotional.

"There's something you need to note if you are going to really, truly accept this power. By taking on this role, you are shouldering the legacy of the eight One for All users before you, including me." All Might made sure to say eight instead of seven, "Are you truly ready to take this on? To live on and become bigger than any of us before you?"

Izuku looked All Might right in the eyes, and before he even said the words, Toshinori knew his answer.

"I'm ready." He said, clenching his fist. All Might smiled with pride. This was his successor, and he wouldn't have anyone else. Toshinori reached up and plucked a hair from the top of his head, and Lucario did the same, lucking a hair from the fur that surrounded his neck.

"Eat this!"

…

"Huh?"

* * *

 

Izuku walked down the road that led to the entrance exam, toying with Riolu's pokeball in his pocket. By now it was a habit, and he would be hard pressed to break it. He walked down the brick pathway, mind all over the place.

Izuku's stomach growled, reminding him of the hair he had consumed. It had been completely, utterly disgusting, but he had gone through with it. All Might's words echoed in his mind.

" _You were vessels made proper, but made in a hurry. Be prepared for the repercussions it may have on your body._ "

Izuku didn't know what it meant, but he had a feeling he was going to find out soon enough. But first, was the written exam, which he was significantly more confident. All it had on it was simple questions such as type advantages and battle strategy theory. All things Izuku had spent years learning to heart.

What he was worried about was the practical exam. The problem was both his and Riolu's experience. Their battling experience was limited to small spars with All Might, but those hadn't been real battle scenarios. He didn't even know what to expect from the practical portion.

Izuku was torn from his thoughts be an aggressive yell.

"Get the hell out of my way, Deku!" Izuku heard Bakugo yell. Izuku spun to see the hot-headed blonde walking towards him at a brisk pace, with no obvious intention of slowing. Izuku jumped to the side, getting swiftly out of the way, apologizing.

Only when Bakugo was gone did Izuku feel safe to move again. And as soon as he did, he tripped over his own foot, sending him headfirst into the ground. Izuku saw his life flash before his eyes as the ground flew to meet his face.

Then, it stopped as Izuku felt a tug at the back of his coat. Izuku quickly regained his footing and turned to see his savior. In front of him was a short brown haired girl wearing a pink scarf. She had her hands clasped together, small spots of blush permanent on her cheeks.

"Hi! I'm Ochako Uraraka! I couldn't help but catch you! It's a bad omen to trip on a big day like this one!" The girl, Ochako Uraraka said. Izuku tried to open his mouth to respond, but no words came out.

"Are you okay? You must be nervous!"

Izuku couldn't get any words out once again, so he just nodded. He was talking to a  _girl_! Everything in his life was turning around, and so quickly too! Uraraka sighed.

"I am too, but I've learned to be a bit carefree about it." She paused, "Something that can help relieve stress is having someone to talk to. You look like you're here alone. Want to walk with me?" Izuku practically jumped at the offer, and the shock finally let words slip from his mouth.

"Y-Yeah! Let's go!" Izuku came next to Uraraka, and a blush was plastered on his face. He couldn't help it. They started walking towards the testing center, and Uraraka started to strike up conversation, and Izuku tried his best to reciprocate, but it was hard. All throughout his life, he never had anyone to talk to, much less friends.

"Which testing room are you in?" Uraraka asked as they approached the fork in the road that marked where different people had to go.

"I'm in testing room B, but I'm in practical zone A." Izuku read off his card.

"Aww darn. I'm in testing room A, but also in practical zone A." She sighed, "Guess this means we have to split for now."

"Yeah looks like it." Izuku turned to leave, but something caught his arm.

"We'll see each other in the practical test, so be watching out!" She gave him a big smile, one that Izuku couldn't help but copy back. Uraraka had an aura to her that emanated...happiness.

"Wait! I never caught your name!" She said as they parted ways. Izuku looked over his shoulder and called back.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya! Nice to meet you!"

The written exam went just as Izuku expected. He knew the answer to every question by heart, with no hesitation. He completed it nearly thirty minutes early, and after double checking his answers, determined that it was good enough to turn in. He was confident about that test.

The same could not be said about the practical exam, however. Izuku was standing outside the large steel walls, waiting for the test to get started. He rolled Riolu's pokeball in his hand, as he had a habit to do. Most other examinees already had their pokemon out and ready to go, but even getting Riolu out was difficult.

It would be the first time Izuku would have Riolu out in front of anyone except his mom and All Might. He knew the exam was starting soon, and Izuku needed to get going, but something was stopping him. All the pokemon around him probably weren't helping. Every time a trainer got just a little too close and their pokemon was close to Izuku, he would tense up and lose his train of thought as he waited for the panic to pass.

Damn PTSD.

"Hey!" Izuku heard a familiar voice call out. Izuku tore his gaze from the white ball in his hand and spun around to see Uraraka running towards him. Next to her, gliding seamlessly on the air, was a togekiss.

"Hey, Izuku! You ready for this exam? How do you think you did on the written one?"

"I think I did great on the written one. This one is worrying me, though." Izuku scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, I believe in you!" She said. Izuku didn't know why, but just hearing those words lifted a weight off of Izuku's shoulders. Izuku eyed Uraraka's togekiss, thankful it was keeping its distance. He did not need a freeze up right now.

Uraraka must have noticed his staring, because she spoke up, tearing Izuku from his thoughts once again, "Oh how rude of me! I forgot to introduce my partner! This is togekiss! I also have a clefairy, but she isn't very comfortable with battling, so I'm using togekiss here!"

"Nice to meet you, togekiss." Izuku gave the pokemon a smile, and the pokemon returned it. It still didn't move towards Izuku, which he was fine with.

"Where's your pokemon?"

"Oh! Here." Izuku opened up Riolu's pokeball, all nervousness having vanished. The light formed into the shape of Riolu standing by Izuku's side. This elicited a gasp from Uraraka.

"Oh my! How cute!" She took a step forwards, causing Riolu to scamper behind Izuku defensively. Uraraka jumped back as if she had been burned.

"I'm so sorry! Did I do something?" Izuku shook his head.

"Riolu is...nervous around strangers. It's a long story. I can tell you sometime, assuming we both make it in." Izuku looked down at Riolu, who was still in a defensive position, "It's okay, buddy. She's a friend."

It shocked Izuku that he was able to honestly call Uraraka a friend already, after only knowing her for a small amount of time. Riolu must have realized this as well, as he stepped out, putting a palm out for Uraraka to shake.

In the middle of the handshake, there was a loud buzzer noise and the massive steel doors slammed open. Present Mic's voice boomed over the area.

" **Ready go!** " When nobody moved, he continued, " **What? When you're heroes, you don't have time to think! So go! The test has started!** " In response, Izuku whipped his head around and saw that all the other students were running out the gates, leaving Izuku and Riolu behind.

In a panic, they bolted for the gates, else they fall behind. They passed through the gateway, and Izuku knew instantly that everything would be serious. The practical exam had officially begun.

By the time Izuku got into the arena, there was a mass of destroyed robots. Izuku and Riolu spun around the corner, desperately looking for any of the metal villains that were spared. To Izuku's dismay, he was only met with more dead bots.

_Damn it!_  He thought, wheeling around. Just as he did, a large green robot came flying around the corner, startling Izuku and Riolu. They both jumped back.

"It's a one pointer!" Izuku called out, then looked Riolu in the eyes, "All right, let's go! Use Force Palm!"

Riolu immediately followed orders, dashing at his enemy. He ducked a hit from the robot before lunging at the robot.

"Signal beam!" Someone called out. Just before Riolu could take out the bot, an attack tore the villain into pieces. Riolu stopped his momentum with a roll on the ground.

"Merci! Adieu!" A blonde haired boy called out before leaving.

"He stole our kill!" Izuku blanched at the space where the boy had been standing previously. Izuku had gone all out for that...just to have his first point ripped from him right in front of his eyes. A tug on his hand pulled him back to reality.

"Oh! There's more bots to get!" Izuku realized when Riolu was tugging on him. Izuku broke back into a sprint, making it back to the main street, where most of the people were fighting.

"That's forty!" The blue haired boy that had admonished Izuku earlier called out.

_Forty? How does he have forty points already and I still have zero?_  Just then, Uraraka flew by with her togekiss, using Air Slash to cut off the legs of three robots.

"That's twenty-eight!" She said, flying by Izuku in a blur.

"Is there any left?" Izuku felt like hope was lost. There was nothing left but broken and mangled robots, and he still had zero points.

Just then, Riolu took off at a dash. The small pokemon was fast when he wanted to be, so Izuku's eyes barely caught the movement. Riolu took three big leaps, and Izuku noticed what in the distance he was going towards.

There was one sole three pointer left, and it was already missing a leg, but working. "Riolu, use Force Palm! Aim for the weak spot!" In the distance, Riolu nodded quickly. The pokemon's fist glowed with white energy before colliding with the broken joint. The robot exploded and Riolu bounced back, making it back to Izuku's side.

"There you go buddy! Now let's-"

_Boom!_

Izuku stopped talking as everyone in the area froze. There was another booming noise as something  _colossal_  turned around the corner. Towering over the buildings by at least a hundred feet was a army-green robot. It was big enough that it could put it's hands down on the top of the roofs without a problem.

" _There is a zero pointer! There is no point in going for it, so you should just run!_ " Present Mic's voice echoed in Izuku's mind.

_This is the zero pointer? Why is it so big?_  Izuku wondered, then realized,  _I need to go! Got to get more points before the time is over!_

Izuku turned and started to run away from the hulking beast with the rest of his classmates. That is, until he heard a call for help.

* * *

 

All Might watched from inside the overservance room, arms clasped in front of him.

"It's time to make it more interesting." Present Mic pushed the large red button in the middle of the table. All Might saw the massive Zero Pointer emerge from its spot in the city, rising over the buildings.

Just as expected, the examinees split and ran away as fast as their legs would carry them, including Izuku. All Might continued to watch intently. This was the moment that mattered.

_C'mon kid. Show 'em your true colors._

* * *

 

Izuku stopped in his tracks. He recognized that voice.

He spun on the spot, and saw that his ears weren't playing tricks on him. About 50 paces away, was Uraraka. She herself looked fine, but she was kneeling on the ground.

Then, Izuku saw the problem. Caught under a pile of rubble, was Uraraka's togekiss. It was buried except for the top part of its body, and its wings were completely out of commission. Uraraka was trying her best to move the rubble away, but to no avail.

"Help!"

Izuku's body moved before he knew what was happening.

* * *

 

All Might's heart jumped as he saw Izuku turn around. There was a girl who's Pokemon was caught under a pile of rubble, and would either be attacked by the Zero Pointer or ran over if she didn't get out of there.

When Izuku moved, it wasn't away from the robot, but rather, towards it. All Might saw the signs, as well. Riolu matching stride. How the way they carried their bodies was identical. How they had the exact same posture.

"Go for it, my boy." All Might muttered under his breath.

* * *

 

Izuku's pace broke into a sprint, and Riolu was right next to him. The Zero Pointer was getting closer, and they were running out of time to help Uraraka and her pokemon. They needed to do it  _now_.

Izuku had an odd feeling well up inside of him. Like there was something growing in his gut. As he ran, that feeling grew, encompassing more and more of his body, and instead of becoming more tired, he felt his legs get stronger.

Then, Izuku started to feel like he was dissociating. He was no longer seeing out of his own eyes. Well, he was, but it was...different. Like there was another thing there. Something else was present. Izuku felt himself dissociate more and more, and by the time he was within close distance of Uraraka, he felt like he was made up of two different minds.

_That doesn't matter right now._  Izuku told himself. The Zero Pointer noticed Uraraka on the ground. It was in its programming to attack, so of course that's what it did. It leaned over, robotic hand clenched into a deadly fist.

There was a surge of power, and in a moment, Riolu was no longer by Izuku's side, yet Izuku still felt like he was feeling the pokemon more than ever.

"Riolu! Stop the attack!" Izuku called out. Riolu jumped on the concrete pile above the Togekiss, rearing back his fist. There was the cackling of green lightning and red power spread across his fist. Izuku felt his own arm cock back, perfectly mimicking Riolu's motion.

Just as the massive fist came down, Riolu and Izuku threw a punch straight up. The massive arm creaked to a halt as a blast of wind erupted from the force of the attack. Izuku felt pain flare up his arm. Burning, hot pain, but he didn't care right now,

"Riolu! Counter!" The pokemon moved in sync with Izuku before the call even left his lips. Riolu grabbed the base of the metal beast's arm, and with another flare of power, jumped in the air, taking the arm with him.

Riolu reared his arm around, and glowed with green energy so bright it seemed akin to a mini-sun. Riolu whipped his arm over, successfully  _flipping_  the multi-thousand ton robot, sending it flying at least a hundred meters in the process.

Izuku felt his body snap back to normal, and intense pain filled his arms and legs. More pain than he had ever felt in his entire life. His right arm hung limp on his side, and his legs collapsed uselessly under him, feeling like they had been run over by a truck.

Izuku forced himself to lift his head, and was met with a sight even more horrifying than his own state of his limbs.

Riolu was free falling in the air, straight towards the ground.

"Riolu!" Izuku said, panicked. He tried to get up and help his friend, but his limbs failed him, forcing him back onto the ground. Izuku thought it was all over.

Until he saw Uraraka dash from where she had been standing, making it just in time to catch Riolu from hitting the ground. Izuku let out a deep breath, and the last thing he knew before passing out was the sound of Present mic saying "Time's up!"

* * *

 

When Izuku woke up, everything was a haze. He groggily opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a white room, laying down on some sort of bed. Looking down at his body, Izuku was surprised at the state of his body.

His entire right arm was wrapped in a cast, supported by a sling. Both of his legs were wrapped in bandages.  _When did I do this to myself?_  Izuku thought.

He used his good arm to sit himself up and get a better look around. Izuku turned his head and saw who was on the hospital bed right next to him. It was Riolu, and the pokemon had identical injuries to Izuku.

"Riolu!" Izuku tried to move, but the bandages kept him in place, not allowing for him to move.

"Ah, you're awake!" A friendly voice said at hearing Izuku talk. An elderly woman turned around the corner. She had a pink visor and white lab coat on, and her walking cane resembled a large syringe. She walked over, and following her was a chansey.

"Toshi, he's awake." She called over her shoulder. Izuku heard more shuffling and clattering before the small version of All Might came around the corner.

"All Might!" Izuku blanched. He quickly looked between the nurse and All Might, mouth wide open.

"Oh, she knows the secret." All Might said, realizing what Izuku was fretting over. Izuku let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. There was an awkward silence hovering over them, so Izuku decided to address the elephant in the room.

"What happened?" Izuku gestured to himself and Riolu.

"Ah that. You used One for All. Remember what I said about there being repercussions for using it?" All Might explained.

_So this is the power of One for All?_  Izuku thought, "Then why did  _my_  limbs explode? Riolu's the one that used it."

All Might sighed, "Here's the thing about One for All. It's never just one of you using it. It's like a two way street. Sure, One for All is a massive power boost, but at a cost. When used, the trainer's mind and the pokemon's mind become one. Their every action is done together. I'm sure you probably experienced that."

"It kind of felt like...I was dissociating? Like I was still in my own body, but not?" Izuku scratched his chin with his left hand.

"You felt a powered down version of it, yet it was still enough to destroy you. There's these few problems with the bond. For one, as you probably saw, using too much of the power without a prepared body can destroy you. Secondly, remember what I said about it being a two way street? Well, while the bond is active, any injuries either of you sustain is also reflected in the other."

"So when Riolu used the power…" Izuku trailed off. His bones broke, causing Izuku's to break as well. All Might nodded.

"It's a very dangerous power. For now, you're fine because of Recovery Girl here." He gestured to the old lady, "She is a superb healer. Her and her chansey got you two patched up. You should be able to go home as soon as we get those bandages off." Izuku took a deep breath. It was a lot to take in all at once.

All Might gave Izuku a rub on the shoulder before leaving.

Izuku walked home with Riolu by his side. After everything that had happened today, he didn't want to put him in his pokeball. He needed someone there to talk to. As they walked, Izuku explained to the pokemon what had actually happened and what All Might had said in the recovery room.

Izuku just mumbled the entire way back home, feeling like a pile of garbage.

"We may have shown everyone what we can do, but it doesn't matter. We got only three points on the practical exam, which isn't enough to pass." Izuku slumped his shoulders, defeated.

Izuku felt a familiar tug on his hand, so he looked down to see Riolu with a concerned look in his eyes. Whatever despair Izuku had been drowning in loosened, and he relaxed ever so slightly. Looking into his partner's eyes, Izuku knew that whatever happened, they would get through it together.

* * *

 

The next few days were torture for Izuku. Just sitting around all day, anxiously awaiting the response from Yuuei was horrible. Not to mention the anxiety.

When the letter finally came, Izuku was in the middle of eating dinner. His mom stumbled into the room, holding a sealed letter with the Yuuei symbol on the front. Izuku dropped his spoon into his bowl in his panic, snatching the letter from his mom's hand.

Izuku rushed into his room, Riolu on his heels. He slammed the door shut behind him, and Izuku threw his weight into his desk chair, causing it to spin. Riolu leaped up into his lap as Izuku tore open the letter. A small metal disk clattered onto the table.

"I am here as a projection!" All Might said, light popping out of the disk, causing Izuku to jump back in surprise.

"Izuku! I'm sorry I had to keep this from you!" All Might said, "But I was not allowed to release it until just now! I am actually a teacher at Yuuei!"

That was a bit surprising for Izuku, but he couldn't say that it was outlandish.

"Anyways! About the exam! You completely aced the entire written portion! Yet, you only got three points in the practical exam, which is not enough to pass."

Izuku's heart dropped. He had seen it coming, but hearing it out loud just made it more real.

"...if that was all there was to it." Izuku's eyes shot back up to the projection as it shifted scenes.

The scene showed Uraraka walking into the staff room.

"Umm...excuse me?" She said nervously, "I was wondering something about the exam."

"What is it, young listener?" Present Mic asked.

"Well, you see there's this boy. Izuku Midoriya. He was really nice and friendly to me, and then when Togekiss got stuck I was so scared and…" She trailed off. Izuku thought he could see that beginnings of tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"And he's the only one that turned around to help! He saved me and Togekiss! So I was wondering...can I give him some of my points? I know he didn't get many, but I just want him to get in…" She wiped at the corner of her eyes with her sleeve, and Izuku did the same, as his eyes were watering.

_She was willing to do that for me?_ Izuku thought. He had never had someone like that. Willing to sacrifice themselves for him. It was...different. Izuku felt a knob form in his chest.

"You inspired others to act with how selfless you were. That is why the test is not only graded on the points from slaying robots. There are these other things, called 'Rescue Points'." Izuku perked up.

"One of the most important parts of being a hero is the spirit of self sacrifice. You went after that Zero Pointer for the sole reason of saving someone else. That is why...we chose to award you with sixty rescue points!" Izuku's heart stopped. He looked at Riolu, who had an equally shocked expression.

"This puts you at sixth on the leaderboard, more than enough to pass!" Izuku let the tears flow,  _does this mean_?

"Welcome to Yuuei, Izuku Midoriya." Izuku clutched Riolu into a hug.

" **This is your hero academia.** "

* * *

 

_Thanks for reading! Sorry it took so long to get out! I had the newest chapter of You Are My Hero to write as well as finals stuff. I would have updated last night, but I went to the midnight release of Deadpool 2 (Was amazing). Anyways, tell me what you think! I'll see you in the next one!_

_**Don't forget to leave reviews!** _


	4. A Break

**A Break**

_Hey Everyone! Sorry this one took so long. I took a little while and figured out what I wanted to do moving forwards with this story. For starters, I felt like I was sticking a little too much to the canon. I wanted to swap it up a bit, so I figured out some original content that I am putting into it to turn this story from "A rewrite of the BNHA story with pokemon instead of quirks" to "Baku's Pokemon AU."_

 

_Anyways, onto the next chapter. I hope you enjoy my original content_

* * *

 

Izuku was thankful that he finally got a break. So long of constant training and nonstop pressure had really started to weigh down on him. It was nice to finally have some time to cool down and recover.

He had gotten into Yuuei, and everything was going to turn out okay. Or would it?

Izuku knew he and Riolu couldn't stop training. They had to work twice as hard to keep half the pace of the others. While they had been with their partners most of their lives, Izuku had only been with his for a mere ten months. They still had far to come, especially considering the toll on both of their bodies due to One for All.

That also brought up an issue. It had been nearly a week since his acceptance to Yuuei, yet he still hadn't heard a peep from All Might. It was starting to concern him that he hadn't heard from his mentor.

In one corner of the room, Riolu was lounging back on the reclining chair in Izuku's room, legs up on the desk, watching a video on youtube. Of all the things Izuku expected to come from having a pokemon partner, normal...human activities was not one of them.

To be fair, most Pokemon are just as intelligent as humans are. Izuku knew there shouldn't be a reason that pokemon  _don't_  act normally, but it was...odd. Nevertheless, Izuku found himself in his room on his self-mandated break from training, getting ignored by his own partner.

Izuku sighed, and just then, his phone buzzed on the desk. Izuku flipped the phone over to see a text from...All Might! Izuku shot up out of his seat.

-Meet me down a Dagobah beach, if you would kindly.- it read. Izuku scrambled for his things, throwing on a pair of shoes as quickly as possible. He scrambled out the door, only to see Riolu not following.

"Riolu! We have to meet All Might at the beach!" Izuku whisper-yelled, not wanting his mom to hear. Izuku expected the pokemon to get up and follow. That didn't happen. Instead, Riolu raised a palm dismissively, waving Izuku away, before turning back to his video.

Izuku stood motionless for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.

_Did Riolu just...sass me?_  Izuku pondered.

"Come on! We gotta go!" Izuku tried again, only to be met with an even more impatient wave than last time. Normally, Izuku wouldn't be bothered by getting dismissed. Frankly, he was used to it. Yet, getting ignored by essentially his only friend over the last few months...well, it kind of bugged Izuku.

"Riolu," Izuku said again, trying to keep the irritation out of his tone, "If you go, Lucario might be there…"

Riolu raised his hand to dismiss Izuku again, but it faltered for a moment. Riolu dropped his arm, like he was considering it for once. He looked between Izuku and the monitor, before shrugging and hopping off the seat.

Izuku let out a pent up breath,  _I don't know what else I could have done to convince him, so I'm glad that worked._

Izuku and Riolu headed out of their apartment, waving a brief goodbye, "See ya, Mom!"

"Be safe, honey!"

* * *

 

Izuku made it down to the beach in about fifteen minutes, as per usual. He walked with a brisk pace, as he expected that All Might was waiting for him there. Sure enough, when Izuku went down to the beach, All Might was standing, overlooking the dark ocean in his deflated from.

"All Might!" Izuku called out, waving. That broke All Might from his trance, and he spat out blood in surprise. He turner around, thrusting his arms out.

"Repeat after me! 'I got the wrong person'!" All Might said. Only then did Izuku realize that he could be giving away All Might's identity.

"I got the wrong person!" Izuku called out extraordinarily loud. All Might visibly relaxed, huffing out a breath. Izuku approached the rest of the distance, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"Congratulations on getting into Yuuei, young Midoriya." All Might greeted. Izuku immediately smiled.

"Thanks." Izuku scratched his chin, "You didn't tell me you would be a teacher at Yuuei."

"That, yes." All Might shuffled his feet awkwardly, "I was not allowed to tell anyone, and before you ask, I did not tell anyone in the selection process that I was connected to you in any way. You earned that all yourself." Izuku relaxed slightly, obviously relieved that he was chosen off of his own merits.

"Good job." All Might stuck his hand out, and Izuku gratefully shook it. "I also called you here for a little talk. Lets go."

Izuku walked down the beach with the skeletal All Might for a few moments in silence. It was a cool night, and the ocean breeze wasped over Izuku's skin nicely. The three of them, Izuku, All Might, and Riolu kicked up sand as they walked.

Finally, All Might took a breath, "You're probably a bit confused about One for All."

"You could say that." Izuku kicked up a seashell, sending it skittering across the sand.

All Might paused for a little while longer, trying to think of the right thing to say. Man, teaching was  _hard_. How did Nana manage to teach him at all?

"Well, when you used one for all, how did it feel?" All Might decided to start.

There was a few moments of silence as Izuku thought. The only noise was the waves and the sand under their feet. "It felt like...I wasn't in my own body anymore. But I still kind of was? Like I saw through my own eyes, but I could also feel the things Riolu was feeling."

"Sounds like an incomplete version of the bond. When Lucario and I are bonded completely, it's like we become one entity. Each action isn't  _mine_  or  _his_. It's  _ours._ " All Might tried explaining, "Does that make sense?"

Izuku looked down a little bit, "Kinda. How do we get to a full synchronization?"

"Practice. Lots and lots of practice." All Might flashed back to all the times he and Lucario fell out of synchronization in the middle of a fight. Nowadays, it was second nature. But back then? Absolutely not.

"Guess we're not out of the woods yet, eh buddy?" Izuku nudged Riolu, who just nudged Izuku's thigh. All Might chuckled slightly. Izuku reminded him of himself.

The two walked under the moonlight, nearly in step. It was rather...serene. Izuku had not felt as relaxed in a long time. For the last few months, he had been frantically moving around, with no stopping. Always either eating, studying, or working out. Most of the time, two at once. Now, just walking peacefully on the beach, was the first time Izuku had calmed down in months.

Something was still bugging him though, "Then what happened that caused it to blow up Riolu's limbs?"

"Hmm…"All Might scratched his chin. He hadn't had this problem.

"I honestly don't know." He finally relented, "It could be that there's something wrong with the bond at the moment? In order to pull it off, your emotions need to be perfectly in sync."

Izuku shook his head, "Riolu and I both wanted to save Uraraka. I'm sure of it." He gave a smile to Riolu, who returned it gratefully. Izuku knew the truth. They had both wanted nothing more than to save Uraraka and her Togekiss.

"The only other thing I can think of is that the power is too much for your body to handle. And either you can use all of it, or none. You have no control." All Might relented. He didn't know what he was going to do. He never had to learn this part.

"Guess our break was fun while lasted, huh Riolu?" Izuku joked, "Back to five AM runs for us!" He said with mock enthusiasm.

"The training never stops, young Midoriya. For now, however, you should go home and rest." All Might instructed, turning to the exit of the beach. Izuku caught his arm.

"There's one more thing." He looked down at Riolu and sighed, "The only way I could get Riolu off the computer was promising that he could see Lucario. Can you bring him out for a little bit?"  
All Might smiled. Those two were too perfect for each other.

* * *

 

The next day was back to the normal grind. He woke up early for a run, and came back to lift weights for a couple hours. Now, he was sitting in his room, not knowing what to do, as he had finished all his homework and it was the weekend.

Riolu was back on the computer, so Izuku had no idea what to do. He wasn't used to having free time like this.

_Maybe I could-_

"Izuku, sweetie?" his mom's voice drew his attention.

"Yeah?" Izuku called into the other room.

"I need you to run down to the market and grab some groceries for dinner please!" Izuku groaned a little on the inside before standing up.

_At least it gives me something to do._  Izuku grumbled. He turned to Riolu before he left and asked, "Are you coming?" The pokemon seemed to consider for a moment before shaking his head. Too immersed in his youtube video, it seems.

Izuku grabbed his backpack and walked towards the doorway, "Be safe!" is mother called after him. Izuku waved to her as he left.

* * *

 

The grocery market was quite crowded. Of course, it was a weekend, but Izuku didn't expect to be barely able to move, shoulder to shoulder with other people in the area. It was unpleasant to say the least.

After about an hour of scrambling around, searching for the ingredients his mom texted him, Izuku found everything. Each of his arms carried a bag, and since they were plastic, Izuku hoped that they wouldn't break on the way home.

Izuku was making his way out of the block of people when something caught his eye. A bright red, gleaming apple sitting atop a stand Perfect and round, tempting Izuku with its sweetness.

_I haven't had a treat like this in forever…_  Izuku reasoned, walking up to the stand. He walked away with the bright red apple in his hands.

Izuku struggled out of the crowd, but when he finally broke away from the mass, he felt relieved. It was getting difficult to breathe. He walked at a normal pace, not too fast, but fast enough that he could get home before the bags broke.

Izuku was lost in thought. So much of his life had changed over the course of the last year that it was honestly astounding. He went from a loser with PTSD that couldn't touch pokemon to having his own pokemon partner, going into the Yuuei, and being All Might's successor. Unfortunately, no matter how much for he wished it, mental problems like PTSD don't just disappear.

For some odd reason, he had expected for it to just..go away after that fateful day ten months ago. It had been foolish to think so. Other than Riolu, Izuku couldn't touch pokemon without freezing up. Not even All Might's Lucario. It was a bit easier to be closer to them than before, but he still couldn't go all the way.

It was worrying him that it may end up being a problem in the future. What if he needs to save other pokemon? What if he needed to catch another pokemon? It was all worrying.

Izuku was torn from his thoughts as something pink streaked across his vision, flying down the alley that Izuku was walking by at that moment.

"Ahh!" Izuku stumbled, barely keeping hold of the groceries as he regained his balance. He looked around, trying to get a grasp on what had just happened. He looked down the hallway to see a pokemon floating in the air slightly.

It was about two feet long, with a long tail that thickened near the end It had large blue eyes and looked kind of mouse-like. It had long, padded feet that hung down in the open space. Most notably, though, is that the entire thing was pink.

"Mew?" The pokemon tilted its head, looking at Izuku. It was floating completely in the air, bobbing up and down ever so slightly. It playfully bounced in the air, spinning in a circle. Izuku saw something bright and red in its short arms.

"Hey! That's my apple!" Izuku protested, taking a step towards the alleyway. The pokemon tilted its head, before spinning in a circle again playfully.

_I've never seen this type of pokemon before...what is it?_  Izuku had memorized every textbook out there when it came to pokemon. He had the appearances off every single pokemon down by memory, yet he couldn't recall ever seeing a  _glimpse_  of this one.

Izuku took a few slow, careful steps down the alleyway, not wanting to scare it off, "Hey, that's my apple. Could I please have it back?" Izuku asked carefully.

"Mew!" The pokemon giggled cheerfully, slowly floating towards Izuku. It got closer and closer, holding out the apple for him to grab. Izuku's breath started to speed up. So long as he didn't touch it, he'd be fine right? He was just grabbing the apple from its hands.

Turns out Izuku didn't need to worry about that at all, because when the pokemon got close, it wheeled around, giggling again. It floated down the alleyway, Izuku's apple in tow.

"Hey get back here!" Izuku broke into a run, chasing the pokemon. He never lost track of it, but he also never gained ground. Like it was keeping him chasing it.

_This is probably a bad idea…_  Izuku thought to himself all too late.

He ran after the pokemon through the maze of alleyways until he saw it take a turn that led to sunlight. He kept going, and as he stepped out of the dark alleyway, the sun blinded him.

Which caused him to slam right into someone.

Izuku frantically pulled himself off the ground, scrambling to get all the groceries before they rolled away. He stuffed them into his bag, nervous as can be.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going and-" Izuku didn't look up, due to a mix of shame and embarrassment.

"It's okay! It happens, you know?" Izuku stopped. He recognized that voice. He looked up and took in the features of the person he had knocked over. The round face, short hair and pink cheeks. Sure enough, it was Uraraka.

"Uraraka I-"

"It's Izuku!" She said cheerfully, helping him to his feet, "I didn't expect to see you around, much less running out of an alleyway!"

"Heh. Yeah.." Izuku scratched the back of his neck nervously. Izuku was on his feet now, brushing dust off of his clothes. He scraped a knee on his way down as well, and it stung slightly. Uraraka bent over, picking something he missed off the ground.

"Is this yours?" She asked, presenting a bright red apple. Izuku's breath caught.

_That pokemon...what was that?_ Izuku was bewildered.

"Y-yeah." Izuku coughed, "Did you happen to see a pink pokemon fly by?" Uraraka shook her head.

_Weirder…_  Izuku thought,  _I do need to get home thou-_

"Hey, we haven't caught up since the entrance exam! How about we go find somewhere to talk for a little?" Uraraka interrupted his thoughts.

"S-sure!" The words came out of his mouth before he knew what he was saying.

"Great!"

_What have I done?_

* * *

 

Uraraka and Izuku walked over to the nearby park to catch up, and Izuku felt awkward the entire way. Not only was he still flustered from running into Uraraka, literally, but he was walking with a girl. Izuku, walking with a girl.

_I'd rather fight another one of the zero pointers right now_  Izuku thought to himself as they set up shop next to a tree in the park. It was a nice sunny day outside, so sitting and talking in the shade would be relaxing. Well, it would be relaxing if he wasn't alone with a girl.

"This looks like a good spot!" She said, plopping down on the grass. Izuku carefully sat down on the grass, not wanting to stain his clothes. They sat in silence for a few moments. Izuku didn't want to start the conversation, as he didn't know what to say.

Finally, Uraraka spoke up, "Did you get into Yuuei?"  
Izuku breathed out. A question he could answer confidently, "Yeah. How about you?"

Uraraka's first reaction was a squeal of delight."I'm so glad you got in! I would've been angry if you hadn't, you know? I tried to give you some of my points, but they wouldn't let me."

Izuku stared for a moment, trying to process what he had heard.

_She tried to...give me some of her points?_  Izuku was shell shocked. Nobody,  _nobody_  had ever done anything like that for him, outside of his mom. Izuku felt the tears start to surge.

"Izuku?" Uraraka tilted her head, looking at the odd expression on his face, "Are you okay?"

Izuku nodded, wiping the wetness away from his eyes, "Yeah, I think. It's just...nobody has ever done something like that for me, you know?" His breathing was a little shaky still, but he felt like he had calmed slightly from his sudden burst of emotion.

"Well, I couldn't just sit there and do nothing!" Uraraka gave him a hearty smile, causing Izuku to brighten slightly more, "I mean, you saved both me and Togekiss. It didn't sit right with me just doing nothing…" Izuku forced another wave of tears down.

"Thank you…" Izuku muttered.

"Anything for a friend!" Izuku's breath hitched again.

_She called me her friend…_  Izuku thought, yet again surprised. He forced himself to not make a big deal out of it this time.

"Yeah...friend." He smiled at her. Somehow, she had been able to lighten Izuku's mood with a few simple words.

They sat and chatted for a little while longer. Mostly about minor things like where they lived and went to middle school. Izuku learned that her parents ran a construction company, but it wasn't going well at the moment.

"Where's Riolu?" Uraraka finally asked, recalling his pokemon partner from the exam.

Izuku snickered, "He was being lazy. Decided to sit and watch youtube instead of coming with me."

"Pfft!" Uraraka burst out into a fit of giggles, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, "Well, I guess Riolu is a pretty humanoid pokemon. Seems fitting that he acts the same too…"

"Yeah he gave me sass yesterday when I made him get off the computer too." That illiced another fit from Uraraka. Izuku was already feeling more comfortable than he had initially. The awkwardness in the air all but disappeared.

"Where's togekiss?"

"She's in her ball right now. So is clefairy. Want to meet them?" Before Izuku could protest, Uraraka got out two pokeballs, and let out her two pokemon partners. Togekiss materialized standing on its stubby back legs, wings folded as much as possible to its sides. Clefairy was much smaller, and as soon as it was out of its pokeball, it jumped into Uraraka's arms.

"Hey!" She said, catching her partner and hugging it to her chest. Uraraka motioned to Izuku sitting on the grass in front of them.

"This is Izuku! He's a new friend!" The first motion was from Togekiss. The instant she heard Izuku's name, the pokemon waddled over far quicker than it should be able to move with those stubby legs. Its wings were spread out wide, going in for a massive hug.

Izuku froze. There was a pokemon coming towards him. Two options sprang to mind: Fight or flight. His breathing quickened, and Izuku was unable to control the pace.

Togekiss, innocent, loving look on its face, wrapped its wings around Izuku. His mind went blank. It had been so long since an episode like this happened. Izuku stiffened, brain numb. The only things that existed were him, the pokemon, and the fear. Oh  _god_  the fear.

The memories from so many years ago resurfaced. The bite marks littering his skin, the pain, the blood. Izuku thought he heard some distant yelling.

Then, it was all gone. The pokemon released him, and Izuku collapsed onto the ground. There were nail marks on his palms, and his muscles hurt.

"Izuku!" Uraraka rushed over, and Izuku slowly sat up. His mind was still reeling, and his mouth was dry.

"What happened?" Izuku asked dumbly. He knew perfectly well  _exactly_  what had happened. Uraraka's togekiss had touched him, and that sparked off a panic attack. Izuku shook his head, trying to recollect his thoughts.

"Togekiss hugged you, but then you stiffened up, and then collapsed…" Uraraka explained.

_I can't let her know. She's going to shun me. Like everyone else._  Izuku didn't want to lost his friend so soon. He abruptly stood up, trying to step away.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." Izuku scrambled to grab his things and go. Yet, as he was trying to leave, Uraraka grabbed his arm.

"Izuku...what happened?" She asked. She had a concerned look in her eyes. Worst of all, however, was the look on Togekiss's face. The pokemon had a look of confusion at what had just happened, but it also looked guilty for causing whatever had happened. Izuku let his knees collapse under him and he fell down. So much for not getting grass stains.

"I had a panic attack." He finally said it after what felt like years of silence, "It's really nothing to worry about."

"A panic attack? That is surely something to worry about!" She said, dismissing his attempt to shrug it off.

_I can't tell her…._  Izuku glanced at Togekiss. The look on its face had turned to complete guilt. The peppy face had gone gloomy, and it was looking down at the ground. It looked like it felt horrible.

_But they deserve to know…_  Izuku thought. Uraraka was the first person to show him such kindness in such a long time. The least she deserved was an explanation.

"I-It happened when I was a kid." Izuku started, voice shaky. He hated retelling this tale, but he had to, "I don't remember the details. The only part I remember is going in an alleyway. Then there were pokemon and they attacked. Next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital."

Izuku choked up, needing to catch his breath. Uraraka stayed perfectly silent, waiting for him to continue. Izuku took another, shakier breath and continued.

"Doctors say it's PTSD. Whenever I touch a pokemon, my brain freezes up and I can't move. I sometimes have random panic attacks when a pokemon gets too close. The only exception is Riolu." Izuku let out the rest of the air, awaiting the negative comment he knew was coming.

"That's...horrible. I can't imagine what it feels like…" Uraraka said finally. Izuku felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Uraraka resting her hand on Izuku's shoulder, concern in her eyes.

Izuku looked over at Togekiss, and felt even worse for sharking. It's head was dropped so low that it looked like it was on the ground. Izuku saw what looked like small droplets of water dropping to the ground.

_Is it crying…?_  Izuku immediately felt worse. Uraraka looked at where he was staring and caught sight of Togekiss as well.

"Oh Togekiss…" Uraraka reached an arm over and pulled her partner in for a side hug.

"Togekiss is a bit of a...fan of you I guess you could say. Ever since you saved us from that zero pointer, she's been excited to meet you again. Not to mention that she's really peppy and loves hugs." Uraraka explained. Izuku instantly felt worse.

"And she probably would give you a hug to make you feel better, but she...can't." The conversation had really taken a bad turn. Izuku knew he needed to turn this around.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, If I get over this at some point, I'll give you the world's biggest hug." Togekiss looked up, and the somber expression on its face brightened ever so slightly. He forced a smile, and Togekiss thankfully returned it.

Izuku and Uraraka talked for a little longer, but the conversation was light in comparison to what had just happened. Izuku checked the time.

"I think I do actually have to go now. Mom probably needs these groceries." Izuku said regrettably.

"Okay!" Uraraka returned her pokemon to their pokeballs and Izuku started to leave.

"Wait! One more thing!" Uraraka came over to Izuku and whipped out her phone. It was a small pink flip phone. She fiddled with a few buttons for a little while before handing Izuku the phone.

"I need your number so we can hang out some more before school starts!" She said happily. Izuku was instantly a flustered mess. His face flustered a permanent red while he sloppily put the numbers of his phone number into Uraraka's phone.

"Alright! I'll text you to make sure it's right!" Uraraka said.

"S-Sure thing!" Izuku said, grabbing the groceries. He started to walk away, waving to Uraraka as he left.

"See you soon!" She called, waving back.

As soon as Izuku was out of sight, he collapsed against a wall.

_Did I just get a girl's number?_

* * *

 

Izuku nearly made it home without something stopping him again. Emphasis on  _nearly_. He was just around the corner when he was stopped once again.

Floating above the sidewalk in front of him was the pink pokemon from earlier. It was floating a few feet above the ground, tilting its head at Izuku. "Mew?" It said.

Izuku stopped walking. Up until today, he hadn't seen nor heard of this pokemon, but now he'd seen it twice in one day. Something was up.

_I need to research this when I get home…_  Izuku thought. For now, he needed to figure out what it wanted.

"Why are you following me around?"

The pokemon just spun in a circle cheerfully, pointedly ignoring Izuku's question. It bobbed closer to Izuku. Panicked, Izuku took a quick step back, but the pink pokemon didn't falter. It came close until it was right in Izuku's face. Izuku's breathing stopped, paralyzed in his throat.

The pokemon tilted its head curiously, happy expression on its face.

"Mew Mew!" It said cheerfully, spinning in another circle. Then, it streaked away quickly, leaving Izuku standing on the street alone.

When Izuku recovered from the shock, he regained his bearings and finished his trek home. He dropped the groceries in the kitchen, only taking his bright red apple with him to his room. Inside, Riolu was still sitting on the computer.

"I need this." Izuku told the pokemon. It took some effort (And a promise of extra dessert) to get him off, but Izuku convinced him to got off. Izuku opened a search browser and furiously set to research.

He tried searching all sorts of things, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't find a  _single thing_  on the pink pokemon. He tried things along the lines of "Pink mouse pokemon" "Floating pink pokemon" and "Pokemon that likes to mess with people". Still, nothing came up.

Izuku called it quits, being completely unable to find a single lick of information online. Either what he had encountered wasn't actually a pokemon, or it was so exceedingly rare that nobody had ever seen it before.

Izuku went to bed still pondering the whole situation.

* * *

 

_There we are! I hope you enjoyed! So, now there's something that I want to hint at before I go. One is that Mew is going to be a reoccurring thing. And it's VERY important. Also, I'm doing something very exciting with the villain alliance's true motives. And All for One, for that matter. I can't wait to reveal it! (Next chapter (Probably))._

_**Anyways, please review and comment! See you soon!** _


	5. The First Day at Yuuei

 

**The First Day At Yuuei**

 

_ Hey everyone! Welcome back here! Now, I have something to say real quickly. Well, two things.  First is that i know some moves won’t have the exact same function here as they do in the games, but I hope you’ll look by it.  Example here is that the move ‘Gravity’ instead of making all flying pokemon fall and intensifying gravity, I made it have the same effect as Uraraka’s quirk in the normal series. Another one is ‘Disable’ works like Aizawa’s quirk does in the anime. I really like interpreting moves like that, as it makes action sequences much more exciting and more fun to write.  It helps me keep things fresh. _

_ Second, Okay, I know a lot of people believe that cofagrigus is a really good match for Aizawa, but I think I found something that fits even better.  I mean, the pokemon is a bit OP, but it was too close of a match to resist… _

* * *

 

“Do you have your handkerchief?” Izuku’s mom was barely holding it together.

“Yep, I’ve got it.” 

“You have everything?” She cried, sniffling in the process.  She clung to Izuku’s arm like him going to school was him leaving her forever.

“I have it all, Mom.” Izuku checked the time, “And I have to go, or Uraraka will be waiting on me!”  

Regrettably, Inko let go of her son, letting him and Riolu free to go. “Bye, Izuku!” She called out, waving as he left the door. 

 

Izuku met up with Uraraka at the bullet train station.  Turns out they didn’t live too far away from each other, so Uraraka had suggested that they go to and from school with each other.  

Over the time between the entrance exam and the first day of school, Uraraka and Izuku had hung out a few more times, and they got to know each other pretty well.  Izuku could now talk to her in a normal conversation without getting flustered, and Riolu had enough time to get warmed up to her.

They talked pretty frequently, and honestly, Izuku was glad.  It was nice to have an actual  _ friend  _ going into Yuuei.  He wasn’t going to be thrown into the deep end and asked to improvise, which was a relief.  

“Hey Uraraka!” He greeted, waving her over to the stop for the bullet train that led to Yuuei. She happily skipped over, clefairy sitting in her arms, as it tended to do.  

“Hey Izuku!” She said.  She took up place next to Izuku and Riolu as they waited.  Riolu was lounging up against a pillar, leaning against it with his arms crossed in front of his chest.  Izuku knew that he was trying to look as cool as possible, but he was also just as excited to start school as Izuku was.

“I can’t wait to meet our class!” Uraraka was tottering from foot to foot, looking completely unable to sit still.  She was looking the same way Izuku felt.

“Yeah, I wonder who will be there…” Izuku muttered, “Because I know that a big part of becoming a successful hero is having high quality sparring opponents.  If we don’t have a class of exceedingly good opponents then we won’t get the practice we need. That would mean we don’t stand up well to the rest of the world’s heroes and…” Izuku started a muttering spree.

“Izuku?” She tilted her head.  He sometimes got like this, and when that happened, you couldn’t pull him out.  You needed to just wait for something to pull him back to reality.

Like the metallic screeching of a bullet train coming to a stop.  That should do the trick. The screech caused Izuku to stop in the middle of a sentence and realise that he had started ranting again.  

He scratched the back of his neck nervously.  “I was muttering again, wasn’t I?” 

“Yep.” Uraraka responded with a small laugh.  The doors to the train opened, signaling that boarding should happen at that time.

“All pokemon must be stored in pokeballs for the ride.” The robotic voice said for the speakers.  Izuku turned to Riolu.

“You heard him, bud.” Izuku said, getting out the premier ball.  Riolu just huffed and rolled his eyes. He didn’t give Izuku the satisfaction of recalling him, instead opting to just tap the button at the front of the ball, recalling himself instead.  Izuku replaced the ball onto the slot on his belt. Uraraka did the same.

The train took off, towards the future, towards their first day at Yuuei.

* * *

 

“Man that door is huge. Why is that door so huge?” Izuku said, staring at the easily 30 foot tall door marked with the yellow words ‘1-A’.  

“I have no idea...it said that pokemon have to be in balls during class, so making room for pokemon can’t be the reason.” Uraraka put a finger on her chin.  

“That's...really odd.” Izuku concluded, then shook his head. “Ready to meet our class?” 

“You bet I am!” 

Izuku smiled at the enthusiasm.  There were two things he was hoping for when he opened this door.

_ Please don’t be Kacchan...or that blue haired kid from the entrance exam… _

_ Please especially not Kacchan. _

Izuku tentatively opened the door. 

“Get your feet off the desk! You are disrespecting the Alumni that used this desk before us!” 

“Do I look like I care? Get the hell out of my face, extra!” 

_ Oh no… _

Not only was the blue haired kid from the exam there, but also Bakugo.  And they were yelling at each other.

“Where did you even go to school, extra?”

“My name is Iida Tenya, and I went to the Somnei Private Academy! And I will not have yo-” the blue haired kid, apparently Iida, said.

“So you’re one of those rich bastards! Even worse…” Bakugo sneered.  Izuku groaned as Uraraka walked in next to him. Izuku groaning must have been loud enough to hear, because both Iida and Bakugo snapped their heads towards him.

Izuku saw an expression of shock and anger spread across Bakugo’s face.  He had known both of them were going to Yuuei, but seeing him here just reinforced that anger.  He was staring daggers into Izuku.

Then, recognition flashed across Iida’s face. He started walking over. 

“My name is Iida Tenya, and I went to the Somnei Priv-” 

“Yeah I heard you the first time.” Izuku interrupted, sort of rudely.  Then, Iida bowed so low that his upper body was nearly parallel with the ground.

“I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to you.  I misjudged you during the entrance exam, and I underestimated you.  Then, you saw the true meaning to the exam that I did not. So I apologize.” He said.  Now, Izuku wasn’t expecting that.

“True meaning...oh that? I didn’t see anything I just-” 

“If you’re here to make friends, then leave.” A drowsy voice said from behind Izuku and Uraraka.  They slowly turned around to see the source of the noise. 

There was a... _ thing _ on the ground, inside a yellow sleeping bag.  A juice pouch surfaced from inside the bag, and was drained instantly.

“IT’S A PERSON!” Everyone yelled in surprise.  The man groaned and got to his feet. He unzipped the bag, stepping out of it.  The man wore all black, with long black hair. He also had a grey scarf wrapped around his neck.

“It took you eight seconds to shut up.” He said, stepping past Uraraka and Izuku into the room.  He walked to the front of the room, the whole class staring at him in shock.

“I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shouta.  Now, get these on and meet me at the field with your pokemon.  I won’t tell you twice.” He said, throwing a pile of red, white, and blue jumpsuits onto the floor.

_ Homeroom teacher...that means this guy is a pro hero? _ Izuku thought to himself.

“Get to it.” He said, walking out of the room.

_ Who is this guy? _

* * *

 

It took a little while for the class to find the locker rooms.  With no map of the school to base their search off of, it was mostly a guess and check.  Eventually, though, they found their destination and proceeded to get dressed in the blue gym uniforms they were given.

Izuku was now standing out on the turf next to Uraraka, as she was the only person that he really knew.  Standing nearby was the blue haired boy from earlier, Iida Tenya. Everyone was standing in a little group, waiting for whatever it is that they had to do to start.

“Alright, Bakugo get in the circle.”  The teacher, Aizawa Shouta said. Slowly, the blonde-haired boy walked over to the chalk circle inscribed on the ground.  Aizawa pulled something out of his inside pocket and threw it at Bakugo. He caught it, and turned his hand over to see it was a softball.

“You all took basic fitness tests in middle school.”  Aizawa said, “Yet, the powers and capabilities of your pokemon were not assessed.  I find this highly illogical. Pokemon are an integral part of society. It is idiotic to not assess their capabilities.  Thus, today, we will be throwing your pokemon through the same fitness tests that you have taken.” 

There was a moment of silence while everyone processed what Aizawa was saying.

“Yeah! Sounds like a load of fun!” It was a really energetic girl in the back of the group that threw her arm up first.  She had bright skin, and it kind of shone a soft pink in the sunlight. There was a few more cheers from other students.

“Sounds fun, does it?” Aizawa had a grin on his face that Izuku could not describe, “You are training to be heroes.  There is no time for  _ fun _ .  So, the pair that scores lowest will be immediately expelled.”

All the cheering was immediately silenced.  Everyone stood in shock. 

_ Expelled? _ Izuku’s heart sunk.   _ What if we can’t score well enough? Will all this training be for naught?  _ Izuku looked down to Riolu’s pokeball on his hip.  He was interrupted from his worries by some shuffling next to him. It was Uraraka.

“How is that fair? We spent all this time getting in, just to get-”

“When did I ever say it was fair?” Aizawa interrupted.  Uraraka looked like she was about to argue again, but Izuku lightly grabbed her forearm.

_ Not worth it _ his face said, and Uraraka just grumbled, stepping back.

“If that’s over with, I would like to get this started.  Bakugo, bring out your pokemon. You can do whatever you want while in there, but try to get the ball as far as possible.” 

Bakugo reached to his hip and retrieved the pokeball.  Nonchalantly, with the flick of his wrist, he threw the pokeball straight up.  The ball popped open and his pokemon materialized. 

Izuku had expected his Quilava. Instead, there was the hulking fire beast of a Typhlosion standing next to Bakugo.  There was some murmuring from the crowd.

_ His Quilava evolved?  What?  _ This was news to Izuku.  He knew Bakugo’s partner was powerful, but powerful enough to be a final stage evolution already?

Bakugo picked up the softball, scowl ever present on his face.  He tossed it in the air a few times, before rearing back. 

“DIE!” He yelled, throwing the ball with all his might.  It sailed in the air some distance before beginning its decent.  Bakugo turned away and nodded to his Typhosion, not even giving a command.

“Phlosion!” It called, letting loose a massive fireball at the projectile.  Izuku recognized it as the move Flame Burst. He had some personal experience with that move. He shuddered.  

The massive fireball stuck the softball just before it reached the ground, redirecting it back into the sky, flying away with significant velocity.  It sailed for a while before finally touching down on the ground. Aizawa turned the phone’s screen to the class.

“702.5 meters?” The class exclaimed. Aizawa put his phone away, smirking.

“That is the power of pokemon. Now, we will be starting with the fifty meter dash. You may use any pokemon available to you.”  

The class got ready to start their fitness tests, but Izuku immediately started panicking.  

_ Riolu only knows Copycat, counter, and force palm. Two of which require other moves to be used first, and the other is purely offensive. _ His hands trembled with nervousness.

_ What are we going to do? _

* * *

 

Riolu was standing close to Izuku, eyeing all the other students and pokemon around them.  As always, Riolu was not comfortable with large crowds or new people. 

As Izuku scanned the area, he saw a few pokemon he recognized immediately. There was a Pikachu, a Boldore, a Goomy, an Eevee, and a few more.  Then, there was Iida, who was stretching with his combusken.

“Stretching before exercise is an important part of warm up!” He said enthusiastically. 

Then, of course there was Uraraka’s togekiss and clefairy.  Across the field, however was the most interesting thing. There was a boy with two different colored eyes and hair of two different colors with two pokemon.  One was a standard ninetales, while the other was an Alolan form Ninetales. Alolan forms were  _ rare _ , especially considering where they were.  

The boy looked between the two pokemon, before recalling the regular kantonian ninetales into its pokeball.

_ That’s odd...The teacher said that we can use any pokemon we have available… _ Izuku thought, before getting distracted once more by the daunting task ahead.

Izuku looked down to Riolu, getting his attention, “How do we do this, buddy?” 

Riolu pondered for a moment before rearing back his fist and punching. Izuku got what he was trying to say.

“We can’t do that! It’ll break us, and plus, we don’t even really know how to activate it certainly!” Izuku said under his breath, just loud enough for Riolu to hear, but so that he couldn’t be heard by other students.

Riolu put his arm under his chin, thinking for a little longer, but they were interrupted.

“First up!” Aizawa called out.  Iida and the pink looking girl from earlier came up to the plate with their pokemon.  Iida’s combusken took its place on the starting plate next to the pink girl’s goomy.

The shot went off to start.

“Combusken! Agility!”

“Use acid armor, let’s go!” 

It was all over in less than four seconds.  Iida’s combusken bolted across in a blistering 2.13 seconds.  Izuku’s notes came back to mind.

_ Combusken, hidden ability: Speed boost.  This pokemon’s speed gradually increases over time. _ Izuku remembered,  _ That must be it… _

The pink girl’s goomy on the other hand was much more creative.  Usually goomy is a slow pokemon, but that did not happen this time.  The goomy had used acid armor, covering itself in a thin layer of acid that dissolved the ground under it.  It used that dissolved ground to speed across faster than any goomy should be able to. 

There were a bunch of other people that went, getting almost equally impressive scores.  Bakugo’s typhlosion used flame wheel to speed across the ground while Uraraka’s togekiss just flew across quickly.  The boy Izuku saw earlier had his ninetales use ice beam behind it to essentially surf on the ice made.

There were so many creative ways people made it work.

Izuku, on the other hand, did not have anything going for him.  Riolu just centered his body weight close to the ground and sprinted as fast as he could, just edging out seven seconds.

The rest of the tests were almost as bad.

The grip strength test was pretty even across the board, save a boy that had a Machamp who used its multiple arms to squeeze so hard the force sensor nearly broke.

The repeated side steps were edged out by a boy with a grimer, who used its sludge as little bouncing barriers.

The standing long jump was won by many people who had moves to propel themselves forwards, such as a signal beam facing backwards, or Togekiss, who could just fly.  

Izuku was starting to become even more worried than before. They were already halfway through the tests, and Izuku and Riolu had done sub-par on every single one so far. If they didn’t have at least  _ one _ score that was good, they would be on the bottom of the leaderboard for sure.  They would get expelled, and everything they worked for would go out the window.

So that’s why, before the ball throw started, Izuku took Riolu off to the side.

“We’re behind.  He have to use it, even if it breaks us.” Izuku said.  Riolu immediately nodded, affirming he was on the same page. They walked back over to rejoin the group.

Uraraka went into the circle with her clefairy rather than togekiss this time.  She gave the ball to clefairy, who just threw the ball. Instead of plopping to the ground as everyone expected, the ball flew into the air.  And kept going. And going.

The ball winked out of sight, and Aizawa held up the distance meter.

“Infinity?” The class blanched at the score.  Uraraka smiled, giving her clefairy a high-five before stepping out of the ring.

“Midoriya, you’re up.” Aizawa said in his monotone voice.  

Izuku took a deep breath, nodding to Riolu.  It was time to show what they were made of.

* * *

 

Izuku stepped into the ring with Riolu.  He hefted the ball in his hand before handing it to Riolu so he could do the same.  They tossed it in the air a couple times.

“You can take as much time as you’d like, but if you would hurry it would be better.” Aizawa said.  Izuku nodded to him before looking into Riolu’s eyes. They nodded in sync.

Izuku reached out towards Riolu, just as he had before, and he felt Riolu reach back.  The weird feeling of getting torn from his body and being put in some kind of limbo took over Izuku.  Instead of seeing and feeling through his own eyes, he was once again seeing and feeling through two bodies at once.

He sort of felt the ball in his hand, but at the same time he didn’t.  He knew that their motions were mirrored perfectly now, and they hefted the ball a couple more times.  Izuku didn’t need to ask Riolu if he was ready. He just  _ knew _ .

Most notable was the surge in power.  There was a so much energy flow that was going between them, Izuku felt like They could do anything.  

They reared their arms back, and they felt the power surge to their right arms.  The let loose a small yell as they launched their arms forwards and…

Izuku nearly threw up with how fast he was torn back to his own body.  He stumbled over, nearly falling flat on his face. Riolu had a similar reaction, ball tumbling out onto the ground in front of them.  Izuku took a couple deep breaths as he realized his body was his own. Izuku slowly pushed himself to his feet, Riolu following suit.

Aizawa was standing tall, glaring at Izuku and Riolu.  Behind him was a floating black pokemon with a single blue eye, red ring around its neck, and a long white stream coming out of its head.

_ A Darkrai… _ Izuku thought, dumbstruck.  There were a few pokemon that were so rare that they were classified as  _ mythical  _ pokemon.  Only one came up every few years, and the trainer that caught it was usually known as one of the stronger ones.  

_ That means… _

“You’re Eraserhead!” Izuku called out, recognizing it from his notes, “All teachers at Yuuei are pro heroes, and you have a Darkrai!”  
“I erased your ability of your pokemon. Do you know why?” Izuku shook his head, though he had an idea of the cause for the intervention.

“You were going to use that power you used in the entrance exam, weren’t you? The one that for some reason destroyed not only your body, but that of your pokemon’s as well.” Izuku nodded.

Izuku looked down at his feet.  He hadn’t even  _ thought  _ about how Riolu might feel or react.  He was putting that sort of burden on Riolu, and he hadn’t even stopped to ask.  

“You’re acting like a new trainer.  One that has only had their partner for a short time.” Aizawa added.

_ He’s not wrong… _ Then Izuku glanced down at Riolu, who was staring at his feet in shame.   _ I need to do better _ He surmised.

“Did you really expect to be able to finish the rests of the tests with only one arm?  Don’t make me laugh.” Izuku felt even more ashamed, “No potential.”

That sparked something inside of Izuku.  He could take being told what he was going to do was bad.  He could take verbal attacks. But he could  _ not _ take being told he had no potential.

He  _ was _ going to be a hero.  He had it in him. He just needed to show Aizawa that.  Izuku controlled his anger, fueling it into the task ahead.

“You have a rethrow.  Disappoint me again.” Aizawa walked back, recalling his pokemon to its ball.  

Izuku, now determined even more than before, picked back up the ball and handed it to Riolu.  

He reached out, and though it took a little longer, he found the bond.  He slipped out of his own body once more, taking up his position in the limbo-like state.  Izuku didn’t need to tell the plan to Riolu. The moment they came together, they both knew. After all, they were one mind.

They reared back their arm.  They started to throw the ball, containing the energy.  

_ Hold it! Hold it! _ They were nearly through their throw.

_ Hold it! _

The ball was about to leave their hand.

And just when it did, when the ball was touching only one of Riolu’s fingers, they unleashed the power.  The floodgates opened, rushing to the single point on Riolu’s hand. 

There was a blast of wind as the ball went flying out of Izuku’s hand, arcing into the sky.  They watched the ball arc down and land in the distance. They turned to Aizawa, still in the bond, and clutching their hand. Izuku’s forefinger was broken, and one of the fingers on Riolu’s hand was blackened.

“We can still go, Aizawa!” He said, smile on his face.  He had done it. Aizawa, for the first time that day, was smiling.  It wasn’t a pretty smile, but it was a smile nonetheless. The number came up on the phone.

“720.8 meters! He beat Bakugo!” The class roared.  Izuku and Riolu broke the bond, the former falling onto one knee for a moment in order to recover.  That is, until he heard a guttural war cry from the crowd.

“Deku!!” 

Bakugo was running at him, hands outstretched, as if e was going to strangle Izuku.  Typhlosion was by his side, roaring as well. The both of them were running at full speed, rage present in their eyes.  

Izuku panicked, trying to scramble away, but his legs wouldn’t work properly below him.  Bakugo was getting close and then…

He stopped.  Not of his own accord, Izuku noticed, however.  Wrapping around both Typhlosion and Bakugo were long, thin grey straps.  Bakugo strained against the restraints, but to no avail.

“I would rather you not attack other students.” Aizawa said, voice wet with annoyance.  Bakugo just growled, moving towards Izuku once more. 

“Or do I need to have Darkrai put you to sleep to stop you?  I can promise it would not be pleasant.” There was a flash of panic in Bakugo’s eyes before being replaced by the familiar simmering anger.

Everyone knew the stories of what Darkrai could do.  It had an ability called ‘Bad Dreams’. Anyone put to sleep by Darkrai would experience unpleasant nightmares.  Well, worse than unpleasant, if the stories were true.

Bakugo stood down, swatting away the bonds that were holding him down.  He stalked away, seething and mumbling the entire way.

“Now if you are all done with attacking each other, we can get on with the rest of the tests.”

* * *

 

“What was that about?” Uraraka asked him when he got back to the group.

“Oh…” Izuku scowled, “It’s a long story.  He kind of always looked down on me for not having a pokemon for so long…”

Uraraka glared over at the blonde boy, “So what made him so angry, then?”

Izuku scratched his side nervously, “I never really told him that I caught Riolu.  Guess he wasn’t happy about that.” 

They were led over to a circular dirt track for the long distance run.  That field was at least something Izuku and Riolu could do well enough. They had been running every morning for the last ten months, so this should be a piece of cake.  

Izuku noticed he was drawing odd looks from the entire class.  Izuku blushed as he realized what they were all thinking.

_ They’re wondering where all that power came from… _ Izuku realized.   He didn’t have an explanation either.  Not one that still kept the secret of One for All.  He knew that he would have to figure out a way to play it off, because as soon as they were free, Izuku knew they would be bombarded with questions.

_ How is this going to go? _

 

Luckily, the rest of the tests went off without a problem.  Izuku and Riolu were among the last left standing when Aizawa declared the long distance run as over.  Bakugo and his typhlosion had made it to the end, as well as the boy from earlier and his ice ninetales. 

The rest of the tests were simple and Izuku placed average in.  Now, however was the time they were all waiting for. 

“These are the results.” Aizawa said, projecting a leaderboard.  Izuku held his breath as he read down the placings.

A girl named Momo Yaoyorozu placed first, followed by a boy named Todoroki Shouto.  There were a few more, and Izuku saw Bakugo pretty high on the list.

_ Sixteen, seventeen, eighteen… _ Izuku’s breath hitched as he saw himself in nineteenth place.  Right above someone named Minoru Mineta. 

The small boy with purple hair from earlier wailed, throwing his arms up.

“I’m doomed!” He shrieked, dropping to his knees.  Granted, that only removed a few inches from his height, but he seemed even smaller than before.

_ I’m just glad I- _

“I lied about expelling you, by the way.” Aizawa said, “It was a logical ruse to bring out your upper limits.”

“Huh?” The entire class groaned.

“That’s not fair!”

“That was mean!”

Aizawa groaned again, obviously exasperated.

“It makes sense, if you think about it.” A tall girl said.  She had spiky black hair sticking up out of the top of her head in a ponytail. 

“Many pokemon are powerful in their own sense, but do not perform well in situations like these.  An example is that boy’s grimer. It is very good for stealth missions, but does not perform well in physical fitness.  It’s all obvious, if you had thought about it.” She said, before turning away. 

There was some more muttering from the crowd “That’s Momo Yaoyorozu…” Izuku heard.  

_ The girl who got first place.  I wonder who her pokemon is… _ Izuku didn’t catch glimpses of most of his other classmate’s partners.  He was too enveloped in his own performance to pay attention. 

Aizawa raised an arm, shutting the class up quickly, “That’s it for now.  The rest of the time until your next class is free. Use it as you see fit.” Aizawa stalked off, disappearing around the corner.

The moment he was gone, half the class spun around, closing in on Izuku in an instant.  

“What was that power?”

“What move did you use?”

“I too am curious about this.”

Izuku took a few quick steps back, distancing himself enough that the class wasn’t in his face.  He put up his hands in front of his body defensively.

“I-i-i-” Izuku couldn't think of a response.

_What kind of move would produce that kind of power?_ _Think!_ Izuku’s mind went flipping through his memories of his notes as quickly as possible.  Then, the perfect idea came to mind.

“I-it’s focus blast!” Izuku lied, trying to sound as deceptively truthful as possible.  Luckily, he had a good track record of lying, so he had some good practice. “It’s a point blank focus blast.”

The people surrounding him tilted their heads, so Izuku made up an explanation as fast as possible.

“Umm...we can’t control focus blast, and any time we try to use it at a distance, it fizzles out.  So we figured out that if we use it point blank, then it hurts Riolu, but it also gives off a massive burst of power.” Izuku held his arm behind his back, not revealing his broken finger.  He would  _ not _ have an explanation for that.

Luckily, the class seemed to buy it.  

“Ahh that makes sense.”

“Such a risky move!”

“Wow, such power, though!”

Izuku let out a held in breath.   _ Close one… _

The rest of the day was spent meeting his classmates.  Some of them from earlier came and introduced themselves personally, while others just waved to him.  A boy with yellow hair and a pikachu introduced himself as Kaminari Denki. 

The girl whose skin looked pink introduced herself as Mina Ashido, and the girl with a frogadier said she was Asui Tsuyu, but insisted he call her ‘Tsu’.  A few others, such as the spiky haired boy with the boldore and Iida, who properly introduced himself. 

Izuku was surprised that he was able to walk out of his first day of Yuuei with more than one friend.  Most of his class had introduced themselves to him, in fact. The only ones who hadn’t were the boy with the two ninetales, and Bakugo, who just sat in the back of the room, streaming.  

Izuku smiled as he walked out of the front doors with Uraraka and Iida.  

“It seems we take the same way home after the day, Midoriya! Would you care for walking together?” Iida asked.

“Uraraka and I already walk together, so you would be free to join us!” Izuku himself was surprised that he had befriended Iida, but he wasn’t unhappy with it.  Once you got past the hard, rule-following part of him, he was quite nice. 

“Thank you!” Iida said, coming in to step with Izuku.

“Hey Deku!” Uraraka said, falling in next to him.  Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin.

“D-Deku? Where did you hear that name?” Uraraka tilted her head.

“That Bakugo boy earlier called you it, and I thought it sounded like a cool nickname.” Uraraka said innocently.  

Izuku rushed out an explanation, “Well, you see, he kind of calls me that as an insult.  It’s supposed to mean ‘can’t do anything’.” Izuku admitted, nervously scratching his neck.  That was a habit of his. 

“Really? How terrible!”  Uraraka’s head sunk low before she broke into one of her cheerful skips.

_ That means she had an idea… _

“That kind of sounds like the Japanese word for ‘you can do it!’, Dekiru!” She said cheerfully.

“Umm, could I call you that? I like how it sounds!” Uraraka said, a bit sheepishly.

The words were out of Izuku’s mouth before he knew it. “Sure! Deku it is!” 

Iida just eyed him. 

“The Deku that always does his best! Alright!” Uraraka said, just as carefree as always.  It was something Izuku admired in her. 

Thus, the three friends made their way towards their respective homes.  To say Izuku was satisfied with his first day at Yuuei was an understatement.  He finally felt like he had found a place where he belonged. A place where he could be himself.  He was excited to move forward, and take his first steps towards being a hero.

* * *

 

“Yes, Sensei.  Of course. Then, I can get my toys?” Tomura Shigaraki said.  He didn’t need a phone to talk to his master. The response he got back pleased him greatly.

_ Of course.  Remember, the point of this mission is to gather intel. Nothing more.   _ The voice boomed inside of his head.

“It’s just like those video games.  We have to sneak into the enemy base on a stealth mission before we can take them head on.” Shigaraki loved video games.

_ Do not fail me.   _ Sensei’s voice boomed inside of his head,  _ If we want my plan to succeed, we must have it. _

“Have what, Sensei?”

…

_ Mew _

 

* * *

 

_That's it for that one! I hope you enjoyed it! We have some fun battle trial stuff coming up, and things will get heated as we move into the USJ mini-arc! I hope you agree with my notion to make Aizawa's pokemon darkrai. Not only does it fit his color scheme, but it has the quick disabling of abilities that Aizawa has in the show. I mean, the first move it learns is disable..._

_That's it from me! See ya soon!_


	6. The Battle Trial Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone, I'm back. Sorry this chapter took so long. I took about a week break from writing so I could recouperate and reassert myself, as I felt that if I had continued writing in the state I was in, then it would not have been good writing. Anyways, I'm back. Hopefully the next chapter's wait shouldn't be too long!

**The Battle Trial Part 1**

 

“So what do you think we’ll be doing today?” Uraraka asked Iida as they waited for class to start. Iida put his hand on his chin, thinking.

While the whole class was certainly excited to see what All Might’s class would be like, none of their enthusiasm compared to Izuku’s.  Not only was it going to be the first ‘Hero Studies’ class, but it was taught by  _ All Might _ . The one, the only, number one trainer, All Might.  One would think that being with All Might on a daily basis for nearly a year would curb his enthusiasm for the hero, but nothing of the sort happened. 

Izuku could barely sit still in his seat as he waited for the class to start.

“Hmm...I suspect it will be something grandiose, considering that it is All Might teaching it.” Uraraka wiggled a little bit in excitement

“That’s just what I was thinking!” 

“I suppose we can only wai-”

“I am coming through the door like a normal person!” A loud, deep voice boomed.  All heads were drawn to the front of the room, where All Might had entered, leaving a small trail of dust in his wake.  

“Car...” Lucario followed his trainer inside the room, walking completely normally.

“Woah!” The class stared in awe at All Might’s very not-normal entrance.  

“Is that the silver age costume?” 

“That’s so cool! His Lucario is here too!” 

“Would you all shut your damn mouths so he can talk?” Bakugo interrupted, drawing a few dirty gazes, but the class quieted down nonetheless.  

“Ahem.” All Might cleared his throat, tugging at his collar.  Despite his intimidating appearance, he looked nervous.

“Today, we will be doing some battle training!” He called out.  

All excitement Izuku had inside of him dissipated as his stomach dropped. Battle training, just the thing he had been hoping _ not _ to have to do.  

_ Riolu and I aren’t ready! _ Izuku started to panic internally, but tried as hard as possible to not let it show on the surface.  Luckily, the rest of the class was too focused on the front of the room to even pay mind to him.

“Yes! We will be conducting mock scenarios that you will encounter as a hero.” All Might said, raising a fist confidently. 

“Like Pokemon battles?” 

“Are we going to be graded on this?”

“Will we be fighting robots like in the entrance exam?” 

All Might raised his palm, quieting the students. “All of your questions will be answered in due time.  For now, draw your attention to this!” All Might clicked a button on the remote in his hand, and the wall started to part. Emerging from the wall were a few panels, each having an assortment of boxes with numbers on them.

“When you enrolled here, you put in a costume request.  Here are those costumes. For now, I would like you to meet me at city center B.  It is one of the areas where the entrance exam took place.” All Might instructed, “Get changed into your costume and meet me there!” 

With another blur of dust, All Might was gone, and Lucario lazily followed, not caring to run with the enthusiasm that his trainer did.

_ Looks like Riolu gets it from somewhere... _ Izuku thought, recalling his partner’s laziness.  _ Maybe it’s a trait of the evolution line… _

“Deku!” Uraraka’s voice tore him from his thoughts. “Let’s go get changed!” Izuku realised that the rest of the class was scrambling to find their respective costume boxes, while he was still sitting at his desk.

“Oh!” He jumped up with a start, “Yeah let’s go!”

* * *

 

_ A few weeks ago… _

 

_ Izuku was sitting on the couch, exercising his grip strength when his mom walked into the room. _

_ “Izuku honey, I got you a present!” His mom practically yelled when she came through the door. _

_ “I’m right here…” Izuku groaned, turning to face his mother.  She had something in a bag tucked under her arm, and Izuku could just see the top of it.  It looked like...green cloth? _

_ “Okay, there’s something for Riolu too, where is he?” Izuku looked around, and when Riolu was nowhere to be seen, he assumed he was being lazy at the computer again. _

_ “Riolu! Come here!” Izuku called. _

_  There was a moment of silence then a defiant, “Rio!”  _

_ Izuku groaned. “No, get in here! Mom has something for you!” _

_ There was some rattling around and shuffling from Izuku’s room before the door pulled open and Riolu stepped out.  Izuku’s mom smiled and pulled out the bag from under her arm.  _

_ “I felt really bad for that horrible thing I said so long ago…” She already looked like she was going to cry.  She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve before continuing. _

_ “I decided that since you’ve gotten into Yuuei, that I’m going to support you all the way, no matter what!” She whipped the contents out of the bag.  There was a green tracksuit accompanied by white gloves. It was slightly lighter of shade than Izuku’s trademark green hair. _

_ In her other hand was a small green scarf of a darker color.  It matched the color of Izuku’s hair, striped with green that matched Izuku’s tracksuit. _

_ “I was cleaning your room when I saw the open page of your notebook.  It had a sketch of a hero costume.” His mom said a bit sheepishly. Sure enough, the track suit looked almost identical to what he had planned out in his notebook.  Izuku was in shock, and Riolu was the first to move. _

_ He walked over and tied the scarf around his neck.  _

_ “Looking spiffy!” Izuku joked, and Riolu gave a light punch on the leg before retreating back into the room. _

_ Izuku looked his mom in the eyes, seeing she was still close to tears.  He walked over, embracing her in a hug.  _

_ “Thank you.”  _

* * *

 

The tunnel was dark, and walking towards the bright sunlight made Izuku feel like he was in one of those cinematic shots from a movie.  Just the way the entire class was grouped up in a mass, approaching the opening at the same pace.

They emerged from the tunnel to be met with the very same city that was used for the entrance exam.  All of the buildings had been properly repaired, and there was no trace of the carnage from all of the students fighting faux villains.

Standing out in the middle of the street was All Might and his Lucario, the former in his red, yellow,  white and blue hero costume. He had the signature smile on his face, with the two strands of hair sticking straight up, just like the ears on Izuku’s costume.  Izuku patted his hip to be doubly sure that Riolu’s pokeball was present, and it was.

“Welcome to your first class of Hero Studies!” All Might boomed, “The first step is to let all of your partners loose! This is an exercise for both pokemon and trainer!” 

There was the echoing sound of pokeballs opening as everyone’s pokemon were released to join the rest of the world.  Riolu formed out of the white-blue light already wearing his green scarf. Izuku looked around and saw that many of the costumes of his classmate’s pokemon were more extravagant, while others were simple.

For example, Iida’s combusken was wearing essentially a full armor suit, matching his trainer, while Uraraka’s pokemon wore no costume at all.  

“I can imagine that you are all ready to hear what we are doing out here!” All Might said, drawing back in the attention of the class. He pointed to a tall building that they were all standing next to.

“While many excursions happen indoors, studies have shown that the vast majority of crimes happen indoors.  Be it a hostage situation, or a simple robbery, there will be situations that you must diffuse that take place indoors.  Thus, we will be practicing those types of situations!”  
“Will this be graded?”

“What is the objective?”

“Is it just pokemon battles?”

All Might looked flustered at the sudden influx of questions.  “I will answer all of your questions in time!” He clicked a button on the small remote in his hand, bringing up a holographic image.

“The situation will be as follows.  There will be two teams of two, a hero team and a villain team.  The villain team will have a bomb made of paper mache that they must protect for the time limit.  The hero team’s goal is to ‘capture’ said bomb by touching it.” All Might started as an animation explaining the situation popped up on the holographic screen.

“You can eliminate your opponents from the competition by wrapping the capture tape I will give you around either them or their pokemon partners.” All Might continued.

A hand from the crowd shot up.  “I have one question to ask. You say that the pokemon or their trainers can be captured.  What do you mean by that?” It was a girl with a skimpy red costume and a long black ponytail.  There was a couple people in the crowd muttering in response to her talking out.

“She’s the one that got first place in the fitness test.  Momo Yaoyorozu…” Kaminari said.

“She’s one of the four people that got into the hero program by recommendations…” Kirishima added.

“I was getting to that. “All Might interrupted the conversation, “In the world of heroism, battles against villains are not limited to pokemon battles.  In fact, the main part of being a hero is fighting  _ alongside _ your pokemon partners.  Villains will not hesitate to have their pokemon attack you directly, and you must be prepared for those situations.  Therefore, from here onward, unless otherwise stated, you may order your pokemon to directly attack each other in battle simulations.  You may also go directly for your opponent or their pokemon with your bare hands, though it is not recommended.” 

Izuku felt his breath stop.  What All Might was insinuating...pokemon directly attacking him.  He already had a problem with even touching them in the first place. Who knows what the hell he would do if one started attacking him…

Izuku’s heart started to beat a little faster and though he was breathing again, it was quick and labored.

_ Not the time for a panic attack...not now… _ Izuku forced himself to calm down. He took deep breaths and steadied his mind.  In doing so, however, he missed the entire rest of All Might’s speech.

“Now, I will be drawing the teams that will be fighting each other for the first round!” All Might called out, spinning the wheel full of small wooden balls.  Two spat out, and he picked them off the tray.

“The hero team for  the first battle simulation will be…!” All Might paused for dramatic effect, “Tsuyu Asui and Tokoyami Fumikage!” 

It was the girl with green hair tied in a ribbon and a boy with medium-long black hair that basically covered his entire face.  The former was wearing a green jumpsuit with long feet and padded gloves, with a pair of goggles on her head. The ladder was simply wearing a cloak.

“And the villain team will be Kaminari Denki and Jirou Kyouka!”  

Everyone knew Kaminari due to his loud and boisterous nature.  Jirou, on the other hand, was quiet and nonchalant, just shrugging and muttering something under her breath. 

“The rest of us will go to the observance room.  You four will stay here and wait.” All Might instructed.

Izuku spent the entire way back to the observance chamber deep in thought.  

_ I’m probably overthinking this… _ Izuku scolded himself for getting so anxious.  He didn’t even know if his...problem would flare up in a battle situation.  It had already been surpassed by Riolu, so it wasn’t too farfetch’d (heh). 

They got back to the room, where the entire class stood in a mass behind All Might and stared up at the various monitors that littered the room.  On one was the villain team with the bomb. Kaminari’s pikachu sat on his shoulder, but it looked on guard. Jirou’s partner was a noibat, and it was hanging upside down from the ceiling, large ears open and listening for sound.  

On the outside of the building, Tsuyu was standing, relaxed with her forgiadier, while Tokoyami was leaning up against the building, honchkrow perched on his arm.

“That ends the preparation time! The battle simulation has begun!” All Might called into the device in his hand, presumably being broadcasted to the contestants.  There was the ring of a bell, signaling the start of the battle.

The battle started off with Tsuyu walking up to the wall with her frogadier and sticking her hands against it.  She tugged at the surface a few times before climbing up the wall. A completely vertical wall. 

“Woah, that’s rad!” Kirishima exclaimed from next to Izuku as they watched the screen.  

“It looks like that’s part of her costume.  She probably requested it as part of her costume, considering that her partner can climb walls in a similar fashion.” Izuku muttered.

Heads turned to him, shooting odd glances at his sudden speed-talk.  Izuku scratched the back of his neck nervously, “Sorry.” he said.

“You are just correct, young Midoriya!” All Might interrupted, gesturing to the screen, “She requested to have suction cups installed on the palms of her cloves and feet so that she could maneuver like her pokemon partner!” 

On the screen, Tsuyu and her frogadier were now on the third story, and Tsuyu opened one of the windows, slipping inside.  A moment later, Frogadier’s tongue shout out, wrapping around Tokoyami, bringing him up to the same level. His honchkrow followed suit, flying in the window.  

The screen switched cameras to give a better view of the two teams.  Tokoyami and Tsuyu were carefully creeping through the hallways, searching for their opponents.  Jirou and Kaminari, on the other hand, were still standing in the room with the bomb. Kaminari was frozen in place, and Jirou was giving him a death glare, as if she were going to kill him if he moved.

Jirou’s noibat was hanging upside down from the rafters, unmoving except for the occasional twitch of one of its ears. It stayed that way for a few more moments until it detached itself from the ceiling.  It flew down in front of Jiro, frantically waving its wings in certain patterns. Jiro turned from her noibat to Kaminari and pointed up above her. Kaminari nodded and set off for the staircase.

“Nothing has happened yet, but it’s already intense!” someone said from the back of the group.

_ Her noibat was scouting to see where the other team was…  _ Izuku realised.  His notes called back to him, and he remembered that Noibat, and its evolution, Noivern, had some of the best hearing out of any pokemon.  The noibat had been hanging upside down, listening for any noise in order to locate their opponents. It had then relayed the information to Jirou, in some special code.

_ That’s so strong...It may not look like much when it comes to battle, but that’s invaluable in villain hostage situations!  _ Izuku was able to keep his muttering inside his head this time, as to not embarrass himself again.

Nothing much happened for the next few minutes.  Tsuyu and Tokoyami kept searching the floors, one by one, trying to find the bomb, while Kaminari and Jirou lurked the hallways, stopping every so often so that Noibat could re-assess and relocate their opponents.

Jirou and Kaminari were the first ones to make a move.  They found their prey, and waited until the two turned their backs to make the strike.  Tsuyu and Tokoyami opened one of the doors to check the room, as they had with every other door thus far.  Kaminari took this opportunity to rush at them, guns blazing.

They couldn’t hear what was being said over the speaker, but whatever it was, Kaminari and his pikachu looked pumped up.  The electric mouse jumped off of his shoulder, and flashed with energy, presumably a standard thunderbolt. The lightning arced and stuck, leaving a blast of dust and concrete to erupt. 

Izuku paled.  He had been caught up in analyzing the battle, but even a moment of rest made Izuku nearly have a heart attack.  Kaminari’s attack hadn’t been directed specifically at a pokemon. No, it had just been directed at the enemy team, trainers included.  Izuku knew that whoever he was up against would do the same thing.

Izuku’s breathing became labored, but he tried to suppress his anxiety by focusing on the match once more.  The dust cleared, and Izuku was scared to see the damage. A fainted pokemon or two, possibly an injured student.

When the dust finally disappeared, however, everyone was still standing.  Between where Tokoyami and Tsuyu had been standing and Pikachu, was Tokoyami’s Honchkrow.  Its wing was raised, almost like a shield.

“It blocked the attack?” Kirishima said the words that everyone was thinking.  

Tokoyami didn’t even give time for  _ anyone _ , in the observance room, or out on the field, to react, as he made his move.  He didn’t even say anything audibly, just opting to nod to his partner. Honchcrow lowered its wing before dashing at its opponent.  Kaminari’s pikachu was hit by a devastating night slash, sending flying back a few feet. Luckily, it recovered, moving back into a ready stance.  

Just then, shockwaves rolled across the battlefield, and everyone except for jirou’s hands shot up to cover their ears.  

_ That’s boomburst… _ Izuku realized, remembering the description of the move.  The intense sound waves were damaging to even the strongest of pokemon.  Honchkrow backed off, shying away from the intense noise near it.

Just then, something shot out of the back lines, from behind Tokoyami.  An ovular ball of water blasted forwards, striking noibat out of the air, interrupting its attack. It was Tsuyu’s Frogadier who had launched the attack, and now it was running forwards at blinging speed. Noibat tried to steady itself, but Frogadier was too fast.  

A jab, presumably night slash or aerial ace, hit Noibat out of the air, spiking it into the ground with enough force to knock it out instantly.  

Kaminari’s pikachu recovered just one second too late, hitting frogadier with a quick attack.  It was no use, however, as Honchkrow was there the moment after the attack, putting pikachu out of commision as well.

Tokoyami casually strode over to Kaminari, who was laying on the ground, capture tape in hand.  Honchkrow followed suit, coming up to Jirou, and putting a foot above her neck, holding her in place.  Apparently, one talon on each side of your neck is enough to keep you still.

“Hero team, Wins!” All Might called through the speaker, signaling the end of the match.  Tokoyami and Tsuyu helped Kaminari and Jirou to their feet in a good sportsman manner, and they headed back to the observance room together.

There was some cheering in celebration of the first completed match. Some people were getting themselves excited for their own matches, while others were strategizing.  Izuku, on the other hand, was feeling overwhelmingly sick to his stomach.

All Might started asking questions to the class, asking for the things each team did well, and what each team did poorly, but Izuku wasn’t listening.  He was too enveloped in his own thoughts and anxiety. Izuku didn’t wait for a gap in the conversation, he just stuck his hand in the air.

“I need to take a step outside, please.” Izuku said quickly, trying to keep his voice as even as possible.  All Might took a moment to process what Izuku had said, but he eventually nodded.

Izuku walked out the door, and as soon as he was out of sight, collapsed against the wall, sinking to the floor.  He ran his hands through his hair, trying his best to calm down, yet he only became more worried.

_ You can’t do what they did _

_ They’re so much more experienced _

_ All you can do is run away from danger  _ his mind told him, unbidden thoughts weighing him down.  Izuku heard Riolu follow him out the door and stand against the wall next to Izuku silently.  He put on a cool demeanor, but Izuku knew he was at least a little worried about the fight to come.

Riolu had the same lack of experience in real battle scenarios that Izuku had, which is something to get nervous about.  The difference between Riolu and his trainer, however, was Izuku’s notable anxiety and mental problems when it came to other pokemon.

Izuku felt Riolu’s paw rest on his shoulder comfortingly.  Izuku took deep breaths, controlling his breathing to slow down his heart rate.  It took a while, but eventually Izuku was able to think straight. 

There was the sound of the door opening, and Izuku’s head shot up.  Stepping through the doorway was Uraraka, a concerned look on her face, “Are you okay?” She asked innocently.

Izuku rubbed his eyes, “I just needed a breath of fresh air,” He lied.  He tried to sound nonchalant about it, but his voice betrayed him. Uraraka’s face softened, eyes wet with concern.

“You’re worried about the battle, aren’t you?” The way she said it wasn’t a question, more of a statement of fact. Izuku just nodded in confirmation, keeping silent.

Uraraka sighed and came over to the wall Izuku was leaning against.  She sat down next to him, resting a hand on his thigh.

“What if someone’s pokemon attacks me?” Izuku blurted out the words before he could stop himself.   The question was at the forefront of his mind, and for some reason, just being around Uraraka made his emotional defences loosen.

Uraraka was silent for a moment, just running a thumb along his leg.  She finally spoke up after a few more moments, “Whatever happens, You have people to help you.”

“What if I freeze up? What if I mess up and Riolu gets hurt? What if-”

“Deku.” Uraraka interrupted, turning to him.  Her eyes were friendly. “We’re at a school for a reason.”

“I’m not-”

“None of us are experienced!” Uraraka predicted his next words, “Look, you may have these problems and concerns.  You might be terrified of messing up, but there’s something you need to remember. We’re at a school to become heroes.  That means that we’re heroes in training. You’re expected to make mistakes. All of us will at first.

“What matters is how you move forward. So what if you freeze up today? What matters is going forwards and eventually getting over those roadblocks.  There are people to help you do that. All Might, Aizawa, all the other teachers here, your classmates.” Uraraka put her hand on his comfortingly.

Izuku rubbed away tears. Nobody had ever been like this to him.  Just saying a few simple words had been enough to lessen the burden on his shoulders. “Uraraka?’

She hummed in response, so he continued, “Thank you.” 

“It’s what friends do!” She said cheerfully, back to her peppy self and jumping off the spot on the ground, “C’mon! The others are waiting!” 

With that, she was pulling open the door to the observance room once again.  With renewed confidence and vigor, he followed.

* * *

 

The next battle was about to start when Izuku got back in. Apparently, All Might had rolled the teams while Izuku was out, and they were already preparing for their match.  On the hero team, there was a boy named Shoji with a machamp, and the boy with two-colored hair, who had his alolan-ninetales out. The monitor named him as ‘Shoto Todoroki’.

_ That names rings a bell… _ Izuku thought, recognizing the name from somewhere, though he had no idea where.

On the villain team, It was a boy in a standard martial arts outfit, named Ojiro and a girl named Toru Hagakure, who looked exceptionally average, almost like she could blend into a crowd and disappear.

The match started, and Toru’s kecleon went invisible, presumably out to do some scouting.  Ojiro’s ambipom hung from the ceiling by its tails.

Shoto Todoroki put a hand on his teammate’s chest, pushing him away from the building and muttering something.  He threw out his arm, giving a command to his ninetales. Its tail flared up, and a maelstrom of ice was unleashed, enveloping the whole building.

When the wind cleared away, the entire building was covered head to toe in a layer of ice.  The cameras on the inside showed Ambipom’s tails glued to the ceiling, and Toru’s kecleon left footprint marks wherever it walked, revealing its location.  

Shoto just walked into the building casually, striding straight past his opponents, who were frozen to the ground by their feet.  He casually put his arm on the bomb, breathing out a puff of foggy breath.

“Hero team wins!” All Might said after a moment.  Even All Might was surprised by the pure display of power Todoroki had portrayed.  There was a shocked silence from the entire group as everyone processed what had just happened.

“Thirty seven seconds…” Kirishima breathed, looking up at the time it took to complete the match.

“What power…” 

“I heard he is the other student in 1-A that got in off of recommendations…”

“As expected of one such!” Iida added.  

The two teams came back, where everyone quickly debriefed the match, though there wasn’t much to discuss.  

“And it’s time to pick the next teams!” All Might boomed, pulling out 4 balls from the wheel.  He held them up in front of him, two in each hand.

“The hero team is…!” He paused, “Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka!” 

Izuku went through a rollercoaster of emotions in a split second. At first he panicked, but his mind resolved once he heard his partner was Uraraka.  He looked across the room, and she met his eyes, giving a smile and a thumbs up. Izuku smiled in response.

“And the villain team!” All Might looked around, “Tenya Iida and…”

When the name came, Izuku’s stomach dropped to the floor, “Katsuki Bakugo!”


	7. The Battle Trial Part 2

**The Battle Trial (Part 2)**

_Hey Everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long! I got caught up with a bunch of stuff IRL, so I couldn't write as much as I would've liked.  That said, I should be able to write a little more frequently now, so expect regular-ish uploads!  Also, I will be changing the rating of this fic to T, as I have been playing with a few more mature themes, as well as Bakugo's cussing.  Anyways, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

 

"Katsuki Bakugo!"

Any ease of mind Izuku had from being partnered with Uraraka went flying out the nearest window at the mention of his opponent's name. Of all the other people left, All Might had to go out and draw  _Bakugo_.

Izuku clenched his fists in nervousness, fingernails digging into his palms. He had been worried before about how the battle was going to turn out. Now, he was even more terrified. There was shuffling around in the group as the selected students made their way to the battle station.

"What's wrong with Midoriya?" Someone asked, causing Izuku to break from his fear-induced stupor. Frantically, Izuku looked around, to see that everyone else was already gone.

"Sorry!" He said, rushing out of the room in a hurry to catch up.

* * *

Luckily, Uraraka wasn't in any sort of rush to get to get to the field, so Izuku caught up quickly. He caught his breath, falling into step right beside Uraraka.

"Sorry, Deku! I didn't even realize that I left you behind!" She sounded guilty.

"I was just...thinking."

Uraraka patted Izuku on the shoulder reassuringly, "Remember what I said!" Izuku gave her a small smile.

"I'll try my best. I'm just a little worried about Kacchan." Izuku rubbed his chin

"Kacchan?" Uraraka tilted her head. Izuku blushed at his slight misuse of words.

"Oh, I mean Bakugo. Kacchan is a name from when we were kids."

"So you're childhood friends?"

Izuku's mind briefly flashed back to all his burn marks coming home as a kid, "Not exactly." He responded, suppressing a shudder. Uraraka looked like she wanted to press further, but when she saw the distraught look on Izuku's face, she decided not to.

"Okay!" She said instead, smiling. Izuku let out a breath of relief.

The minutes waiting outside of the building leading up the the battle trail were the most stressful of Izuku's life. His mind was split in three directions.

One part of him was still worrying over how he would even be able to handle the entire ordeal mentally. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get it out of his head.

Another part of him was trying to come up with a strategy. Plan after plan ran through his head, and he analyzed the pro's and cons of each. Some plans, such as splitting up, were good for finding the bomb quickly, but made them especially susceptible to Bakugo's aggressive fighting style. Other plans, such as sticking together, made them less efficient at finding the bomb.

The final part of his mind was trying to pay attention to both Riolu and Uraraka. Riolu was out of his pokeball, nervously bouncing back and forth from leg to leg. Uraraka was talking about...something. He wasn't really paying attention to exactly what she was talking about.

"So what's the plan?" Uraraka finally said something that caught Izuku's interest.

"Well, I was thinking that we could start by-"

" **THE BATTLE TRIAL HAS BEGUN!** " All Might's voice boomed through their earpieces, nearly knocking Izuku off his feet with how loud the voice was in his head.

Izuku saw both Uraraka and her togekiss looking to him for instructions, as well as Riolu down at his feet.

_The best thing would be to start on the middle floor and search each one from there. But how do I get up there?_  His eyes shot to Togekiss.

"We can fly up to the third floor window on Togekiss's back." Uraraka nodded, not questioning him, opting to rush over to the window with her pokemon. She hopped on Togekiss, motioning for Izuku to follow.

He took a few steps forward, and his breath seized, stopping him in his tracks. Panicked, he took a quick step back.

"I-I'll meet you there. I'll take the stairs." Uraraka tilted her head in acknowledgement, ascending on her partner's back. Riolu jumped in step with Izuku, running up the stairs.

* * *

"Yo, why did Midoriya just run up the stairs and meet Uraraka? Couldn't have he just caught a ride too?" Kirishima called to the room.

"Maybe he wanted to check the first two levels for the bomb?" Someone suggested, but All Might knew the truth.

He clenched the speaker in his hand ever so slightly tighter.

* * *

Uraraka and Izuku crept through the hallways, listening and looking for any signs of their enemies. Izuku insisted they stick together and check every single corner, every nook and cranny for the bomb.

It was a hallway like any other when Izuku heard the noise. It was a soft  _hissing_ noise, barely noticable. If there was any sort of white noise in the area, you wouldn't have been able to hear it. Yet, it was a sound Izuku was all too familiar with.

So many times, just a blank world and  _that_  hissing noise filling his ears. So many times, getting pinned down by Quilava, the hissing of its flames around its neck being the only thing he could hear.

"Get down!" Izuku barked, diving for Ochako. He slammed into her, falling to the ground, just as the wall next to them exploded with a wreath of flames. Bakugo jumped out of the hole in the wall with his typhlosion, taking stance across the hallway from Izuku.

"You dodged my attack, Deku!" Bakugo spat as Izuku pulled himself off of the floor, "Just for that, I'll kill you!"

Bakugo stuck out his arm, signaling an attack. Typhlosion's flames grew in size, preparing to unleash an attack. Izuku didn't have time to think or panic. His mind flashed to the notes inside his notebook.

" _Kacchan always likes to start with a massive attack, trying to end the battle quickly"_

"Riolu, get in close!" Riolu didn't question the order, running right at his opponent. Just as Riolu got close, A fireball half the size of the hallway came into existence, firing down the small area.

"Slide to the right and get under him!" Riolu dove out of the way of the blast, fireball sailing straight past the pokemon. The one problem was that the fireball was now coming  _directly at Izuku_.

It got closer and closer, and Izuku could feel the heat of the flames.

"Togekiss, use protect!" A green bubble popped up around Izuku, and the fire blast exploded harmlessly, dancing off of the protective shield harmlessly.

_Thank her later._  Izuku told himself, refocusing on the task. Riolu was under Typhlosion, the hulking beast not having reacted yet.

"Force Palm!"

Riolu jumped straight up, fist glowing with power. The attack took typhlosion in the jaw, sending it sprawling away. Riolu made it back to Izuku with two quick jumps.

_Maybe we have a chance without having to use One for All!_  Izuku hooted silently. Typhlosion got onto its feet once more, face renewed with rage. Not only typhlosion, but Bakugo himself looked  _pissed_.

"What the fuck was that?" Bakugo asked, taking an aggressive step towards Izuku, "You aren't supposed to be able to even  _touch me!_ " Bakugo snarled.

"Uraraka, go find the bomb! He's focused on me!" Izuku said under his breath, just loud enough so that she could hear. She nodded, sneaking around the corner.

_Now I just have to keep him occupied…_  Izuku thought. Bakugo cracked his neck.

"Typhlosion. Flame Wheel." Typhlosion snarled, dropping to the ground. He spun, going faster and faster. A wreath of flame enveloped the pokemon, until all that could be seen was the spinning ball of flame.

"Riolu, be ready!" Izuku warned.

"Go." Bakugo spat, and immediately, Typhlosion spun forwards, far quicker than Izuku had been expecting. Before Riolu even had time to block himself, he was knocked over by the searing mass, clutching his shoulder.

"Again." Typhlosion changed directions, spinning towards Riolu once more. Riolu tried to dodge, but Typhlosion was just a little too quick. All Izuku could do was wait for an opening.

* * *

All Might knew he needed to stop the fight. Bakugo could have ended the fight long ago, but instead, he was strategically whittling down Riolu, trying to cause as much pain as possible.

"C'mon, that's not heroic at all!" Kirishima complained.

All Might should stop the fight. Yet, he had no intentions to. Not yet.

* * *

Uraraka couldn't hear the fight going on any longer. She was up two floors, searching for the bomb. All that was left was the top floor, right above her. Uraraka made her way up the stairs, trying to be as silent as possible.

She came into a room with many white pillars that went from the floor to the ceiling. Inside, not having noticed her yet, was Iida. He was kneeling next to his combusken, seemingly talking to it.

"I know it may be hard, but we have to get into the villain mindset. It is part of becoming a great hero!" Iida stuck his hand high in the air.

_So committed…_  Uraraka barely stifled a laugh. Iida, however wasn't finished.

"My best villain impression…" Iida cleared his throat. "Prepare for trouble!"

"Combusken!" Iida's 'villain impression' was just making his voice deeper and gravelly. This time, Uraraka couldn't keep it in. She squeaked out a laugh, immediately covering her mouth to prevent any extra noise from coming out.

Togekiss, however, couldn't stop herself from laughing. The pokemon squeaked a small squeal, trying to keep it in, and failing miserably.

"Uraraka and Togekiss! Welcome to my villainous lair!" Iida's head snapped to the source of the noise, "I have prepared for you! Come out of hiding and hear my master plan,  _heroes!_ "

Uraraka couldn't resist, and stepped out from behind the pillar. Iida and combusken were across the room in their hero suits, standing side by side.

"I have gotten ready for you!" Iida gestured to the completely empty room save for the bomb at the other end, "I picked this room specifically so that you would not have room to fly around, due to the pillars! I also cleared the room of any loose articles, so that you wouldn't have anything to blow around with those wind gusts of yours! I have created the perfect arena to twart your attempts!" Iida made another 'evil' laugh, eliciting another laugh from Uraraka.

After recovering, Uraraka made a quick action plan in her head, hoping that it would work.

"Let's go, clefairy!" Uraraka said, calling out her other partner. The small pokemon appeared next to Uraraka, hopping up and down. Uraraka whispered the plan in its ear.

"Don't worry, you won't have to battle." Uraraka gave a small smile, reassuring the pokemon. She turned to Iida once more, more prepared this time.

"Togekiss, go for Combusken! Use air slash!" At the same time as calling the command, Uraraka broke into a sprint directly at Iida, intending to run by him. Iida, however, did not like that idea, preparing his body to stop Uraraka. He took the stance of a football player ready to tackle someone.

_Wait...wait...wait…_ "Now!" Uraraka called out. Just as Uraraka got to Iida, she kicked off the ground just as Clefairy used the move 'Gravity'. All sense of earth's natural pull dissipated as Uraraka went sailing over Iida, who ended up tackling the empty air where Uraraka had been moments earlier.

"Release!" Uraraka fell to the ground a few feet away from the bomb, still running at full speed. A few more feet…

Uraraka stretched out her hand, reaching for the goal, and just as her hand was about to touch the bomb…

A massive explosion shook the entire building.

* * *

Riolu was in rough shape. It had taken at least ten attacks from Typhlosion. His responses were getting slower, and Izuku could tell he was at the end of the wire. Izuku was frantically looking for some way that he could break out of this, but Bakugo was too methodical. All of his attacks were meticulously perfect, leaving Izuku no room to work with.

Every movement that Typhlosion made was calculated so that Riolu would have no way of fighting back. It was less of a fight and more of a beatdown.

_Get him talking...he may make a mistake then._  Izuku thought. It was a stretch, but it was the only thing he could do.

Izuku opened his mouth to speak, "Kacch-"

"Have you been lying this whole time?" Bakugo interrupted. For some reason, Typhlosion pulled away from the battle, giving it a break for the moment. Riolu scampered away as quick as he could, favoring his side.

"Wha-?"

"You heard what I said!" Bakugo yelled, "I asked if you've been lying this whole time!"

Izuku shook his head in confusion, "Lying about what?"

"You know what, you little punk!" Bakugo sneered, "I bet you lied this whole time, just to get me to underestimate you, didn't you?"

"Kacchan, what are you talking about"

"I'm talking about your whole schtick about not being able to touch pokemon!" Bakugo spat at his feet, "You went all these years faking it, just so you could come in, and take the glory!"  
Izuku was dumbfounded. Sure, Bakugo was self-centered, but never in a million years would Izuku have expected him to come to  _that_  conclusion.

Bakugo, however wasn't done. " _I_  was supposed to be the only one from our shitty school to make it into Yuuei!  _You_  were supposed to be a pebble on the side of the road. A useless nobody! But, Then  _you_  come out of nowhere, with a pokemon, and take the glory for yourself. How does it feel,  _Deku?_  How does it feel having deceived me all these years?"

"That's not it!" Izuku growled, getting frustrated.

"What the hell is it, then? How long have you had a pokemon for, huh? How long did you keep it a secret for? People don't just get good enough to get into Yuuei like you! So,  _Deku_ , what it-"

Izuku couldn't take it anymore, "Would you just shut up and listen?" Izuku shouted, interrupting Bakugo. It only seemed to make the boy even more angry, but at least he stopped ranting.

"I didn't lie to you! My PTSD...it's not gone." Izuku took a deep breath, "It happened about a year ago. Riolu was getting attacked and...well, I couldn't just stand there and do nothing! My body moved on its own. I rescued Riolu, and for some reason, he's the one exception to my...condition. Everything else still gets me.  _Everything,_ Kacchan."

"I didn't lie to you. I've only been with Riolu for a year now. And do you know why I didn't tell you?" Izuku continued, "Because I knew something like this would happen!" Izuku ran a hand through his hair.

Bakugo was silent, but it was almost like you could  _hear_  his rage in the air. He was so angry he looked like he was going to implode.

"What a soppy story." He finally said, voice full of rage, "Such a Deku thing to say. Like I would believe that  _shit_. People don't just get over that kind of stuff because of  _one_ event."

"It's-"

"Stop lying, it's useless. You're underestimating me." Bakugo's voice was comparatively calm. Maybe he had gotten so angry that he went beyond his limit.

"I'm not lying! Kacchan!" Izuku yelled back. Bakugo glared at Izuku for a few moments, unmoving. His eyes full of hatred.

Then, they softened, "Say, I can see if you really are lying or not." Bakugo turned to his pokemon, nodding.

Typhlosion broke back into a flame wheel, before dashing into an attack once again. Riolu braced himself for the attack, falling into a defensive position.

Typhlosion got nearer, and nearer. Riolu put a foot back to take the hit.

"Riolu, counter!" Izuku called the command. Riolu glowed a soft red just as Typhlosion go in range and…

Typhlosion went straight past Riolu flying by in a blur. Right at Izuku.

Izuku didn't even have time to brace himself. The flaming pokemon tumbled into Izuku, knocking him to the ground instantly. Typhlosion rolled out of the attack, pinning Izuku down to the ground.

Everything went white. Izuku couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. All that was there was him, Typhlosion and the memories. Oh  _God_  the memories.

His skin getting torn off by repeated biting. Blood leaking from every wound, pooling beneath him. The smell of a back alley mixed with the garbage covering the Rattata and Raticate making him want to puke.

Trying to get up but not having the strength to. And when they finally left with his bag, not being able to get up until the police came in and carried him away.

The weeks following. Mom having to send her own pokemon partner to live with a relative because Izuku couldn't be in the same time. Not eating for days straight.

Not-

Izuku felt a tugging at the edge of his consciousness, pulling him away from the bad memories. He felt himself dissociating from his body, pulling away. He could think again, but the thoughts weren't completely his own.

When he could see again, it wasn't through his own eyes. The colors were off, and the point of view was much closer to the ground. The vision shifted, and Izuku saw himself, still pinned to the ground by Typhlosion, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Izuku was seeing through Riolu's eyes.

_What is..._

There was a surge, and  _power_  filled the air. Red power, almost vein-like in appearance cackled to life around Riolu's legs and arms.

Riolu kicked off the ground, directly at Typhlosion. He was there in the blink of an eye, and he reared back his arm, still rippling with energy.

Riolu thrust his arm forward, striking Typhlosion in the chest.

There was a massive blast of wind as Typhlosion was launched off of Izuku, sailing straight backwards. Typhlosion blasted through multiple walls before coming to a stop, obviously knocked out. Bakugo had also been hit by the explosion, sending him into the nearest wall as well.

Izuku was brought back to his own body with a start. He jolted upright, breathing heavily. Riolu fell to the ground next to Izuku, collapsing instantly. Izuku tried to get up, but neither of his legs, nor his right arm would even move. They both had a blackish tinge to them, similar to the look of Riolu's limbs.

Izuku inspected the damage. Riolu's attack had knocked both Bakugo and Typhlosion out cold, but Riolu had passed out in the process. Also, the attack had blasted a hole in the side of the building.

Izuku was torn back to reality when the building began to rumble and shake. He felt fuzzy, and the world started to sway. He felt close to passing out.

Then, the whole world started to tip. The building was collapsing. Izuku passed out.

* * *

The entire building started to collapse under Uraraka's feet. The floor gave way a few feet away, and the entire structure was tipping. Whatever that explosion was, it had taken out the building along with it.

"Iida! Come one!" Uraraka said, hopping on Togekiss's back. She recalled clefairy back into her pokeball.

Iida, realizing the dire situation, abandoned his role, instead opting to get out safely. He recalled combusken as well, hopping onto Uraraka's pokemon's back. The moment he was on, togekiss took off, breaking out of the window. Into the open air.

Just in time, too, since not a second later, the entire building collapsed in on itself.

"Deku is in there!" Uraraka screamed, realizing ever so slightly too late. Iida seemed too stunned to say anything, watching the building fold in on itself. Uraraka stifled a cry.

All Might watched Riolu use a full powered One for All smash, taking out half the building in the process. Both Bakugo and Typhlosion were out cold, and dust covered the rest of the cameras, obscuring the view of Riolu and Izuku.

"What the hell was that?"

"Did that little thing just...do all that?" The class was dumbstruck.

"Is that the same Riolu that destroyed the Zero Pointer in the entrance exam?"

"Has to be! What power! Took out Typhlosion in one hit!"

The dust settled to reveal Riolu and Izuku also passed out on the ground. Then, the feed shook before cutting off.

All Might knew what it meant. That kind of damage to the building in such a short time? Then shaking before the camera feed shut out? Only one thing that could mean.

"Lucario, go!" All Might barked. Lucario complied, destroying the wall as he broke through. Mere moments after Lucario was out of sight, he engaged One for All.

The perfect synchronization the two had spend hours upon hours laboring over overtook All Might's body. He was seeing from two sets of eyes at once. He was living in two bodies at once. All Might almost felt more comfortable like this than being seperated.

Most importantly, it gave Lucario the speed and strength he needed to get to the collapsing building in time.

Uraraka watched in horror as the building kept crashing down. Moments more and Izuku, as well as Bakugo would be crushed.

Then, there was a streak of blue, and another explosion. The entire building shattered to pieces, concrete flying hundreds of feet into the air. Along with the rubble, four figures shot into the air, all unconscious.

_He may not get them all in time!_  Uraraka panicked, getting out Clefairy's pokeball to help. Iida, however, put tapped her shoulder and pointed to the scene.

Lucario was using the airborne rubble as jumping points, pouncing from rock to rock in pursuit of the two unconscious students and their pokemon.

When Lucario touched down on the street with all four, Uraraka didn't know whether to be surprised or not. It was All Might's partner, after all.

* * *

Izuku woke up in an unfamiliar environment. His vision was filled with white.

_Is this purgatory?_  Izuku thought,  _Did I die?_

"Oh, you're up." An elderly voice said right in Izuku's ears.

"Ah!" Izuku jumped upright immediately, frightened by the noise. He then saw the rest of his surroundings. He was in recovery girl's office. Around the room were three other beds, though only one was occupied. Izuku's legs were wrapped in white bandages, as well as his right arm.

He flexed his hand, testing out the joints. Everything felt just fine.

"You almost gave me trouble fixing those broken bones of yours, but Chansey fixed you up well." Recovery girl tutted, "You should stop breaking yourself at every turn."

Izuku recalled the events leading up to now. Uraraka leaving, the talk with Bakugo, then getting attacked. Then when Riolu-

"Riolu!" Izuku shouted, panic in his voice. Recovery girl slapped his hand.

"If you move too much, you might reopen your wounds!" She shook her head, "He's fine. I had more trouble with him than I did you, but your injuries were the same." She gestured to the occupied bed across the room. Riolu was sleeping soundly in the bed.

Izuku let out a breath of relief, sinking into the mattress. "What happened?"

"I believe I may be able to help you with that." A voice said, and the door creaked open. All Might in his skinny form stepped through the door, hero costume baggy over his smaller size.

"All Might!" Izuku sat up straight.

All Might scratched the back of his neck, looking over at Riolu.

"What happened?" Izuku asked again.

"Something very dangerous. I would like to explain it once again to Young Riolu once he wakes, but I'll tell you for now." All Might took a deep breath, "Riolu activated One for All on his own."

"On his own?" All might nodded.

"One for All is a two way street. It requires both trainer and partner to be ready to merge into one. But like most relationships, it  _can_  be one sided, though it is unhealthy." All Might started, "That is exactly what happened. You were...incapacitated. Riolu must have done it instinctually. He activated the bond on his own. The power that is normally shared between you both was instead focused entirely within Riolu. That's why the attack was so powerful."

Izuku sat in silence for a moment, processing it, then nodded his head, "The other times I've used One for All, it was like I was in limbo between our two bodies. This time, I was seeing it through his eyes completely."

All Might nodded, "That technique is extremely dangerous, as well as difficult to pull off. Don't ever think of using it again. It may permanently damage the bond itself."

"I wouldn't do that to Riolu." Izuku said, determined. All Might gave a good smile.

"We can have the rest of the talk later. For now, go home and get some rest." All Might made for the door, but Izuku had one more thing on his mind.

"All Might, I have one more question." All Might paused, looking back. "How do you know about this? Did it happen to you before?"

All Might's expression darkened, like he was looking back at painful memories.

"It's happened once. I speak from experience when I say not to do it." All Might made for the door, and said one last thing over his shoulder, "When it happened, I was the one that took control."

WIth that, he was gone, leaving Izuku alone.

* * *

"So what kind of level is it, Sensei?" Shigaraki Tomura said. He didn't need to speak into a mic. Sensei could hear him anywhere.

" _Information gathering. Nothing else."_  The voice boomed in his head, leaving it tingling, " _You can have your fun later."_

"Yes, Sensei." Shigaraki muttered.

" _I have faith in you, Shigaraki. Mew is somewhere at Yuuei."_

" _Find it."_


	8. The Break-In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone, I'm back! Sorry this took so long! I got distracted with IRL stuff, namely my new steam addiction. I've also been working on some other projects I'm excited to bring you, including another collaberation with people from the IzuOcha discord! If you missed that one, it is called "The Things That Break Us" you can find it under my works! Anyways, I'll be putting some more stuff up, so keep your eyes open!

**The Break-In**

* * *

 

Izuku really didn’t want to go back to school.  It was Ironic, really. After spending so much time training to get into Yuuei, after less than a week he didn’t want to go back.  

Realistically, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to go back to school.  Going back to school meant training to be a hero, which is something he would  _ always _ want.  No, going to school meant facing his friends, and that  _ terrified _ him.  

He knew that everyone was watching the battle trials through the monitors, which meant they saw everything.  That includes his panic attack. Everyone knew his secret now. His stupid, pathetic secret that he tried so hard to hide.  It was going to be middle school all over again.

They would ask him what was wrong, and he would have to tell them the truth.  Then, once they saw how pathetic his stupid little problem was, they would judge him and abandon him.  All the friends he thought he had made, gone just like that. Iida, Kirishima, Kaminari, all of them.

Izuku groaned, falling back onto his bed.  If he didn’t get ready soon, then he would be late for school. Riolu was tugging at his arm, trying to get him to get up, but Izuku just groaned in response.

_ Maybe I can just say I’m sick? _ It wouldn’t get rid of the problem, but at least it would be delayed for a day.  Maybe he’d have an excuse come up with by then. Izuku grabbed his phone off the nightstand and opened it up.

He had a grand total of three contacts.  All Might, his mother, and Uraraka. He clicked on the icon with the bubbly girl’s photo on it and typed out his message.

_ “Can you tell Aizawa I’m sick today?” _ He hit send.  There was a moment’s pause before the next message rang through.

_ “Are you feeling sick?”  _  Uraraka ended the message with an emoji.

She was seeing straight through him.  _ “No. I just...don’t want to have to face the class…”  _ Izuku admitted.

_ “Why? What are they going to do?”  _

_ “I’ll have to tell them about my...condition.”  _ Izuku’s mind started going on a rant, and his fingers couldn’t keep up with all he had to say.  In the end, he just deleted it all and replaced it with a simple  _ “They’ll judge me, just like middle school. _ ”

Uraraka didn’t respond immediately. Izuku was left with the repeated bobbing up and down of three circles, signaling that Uraraka was texting back.  It felt like an eternity before he received the last text.

_ “They won’t judge you, I promise.” _ Was the simple response, then a moment later,  _ “and if they do, I’ll fight them myself.”  _

Izuku actually laughed out loud at the last text. The first thing he imagined was Uraraka socking someone like Bakugo in the face.  He pulled back out his phone and sent one last text.

_ “I’ll try” _

Izuku didn’t feel much better, but at least it was a start.  Forcing himself out of bed, Izuku rushed to the shower, not wanting to be late.

* * *

 

Of all the people he expected to harass him, Izuku did not think the press would be one of them. Izuku and Uraraka were harmlessly walking towards the building when they were swarmed by media like flies to food.

“Are you part of the hero course?”

“What is it like having All Might as a teacher?”

“Has he told you any secrets to battling style?”  
Izuku put his hands up, backing away from the mass of people, but the coagulation just followed him.  He kept backpedaling, trying to formulate a sentence, Uraraka in step next to him. 

Izuku felt himself bump into something, only to turn around and see Aizawa resting his hand on Izuku’s shoulder. 

“Go to class.  I’ll deal with these.” Aizawa said, voice even without a hint of emotion.

Izuku continued walking, Uraraka still next to him.

“Do you think he’ll hold them back, or will they come in?” Uraraka asked, gazing back towards the crowd of media.   Aizawa was walking away now.

“If they’re desperate like that, telling them to stay away won’t-”

_ SLAM _

There was a massive boom as two metal chunks slammed together, completely sealing the entrance.

“But that will…” Uraraka breathed.  Izuku chuckled softly, turning back around.

“Let’s go to class.” 

* * *

 

Shigaraki Tomura watched in disgust.  The press harassing the students he didn’t mind. They could do that all day for all he cared.  He didn’t even care when a teacher came up and locked them out. He had ways in.

No, what he cared about was the stupid thing those reporters kept asking about.

“All Might.” Shigaraki spat.  Just saying the name made him want to vomit.  Shigaraki gripped Toxicroak’s pokeball tightly with one hand, the other scratching under his chin.

“We could kill them all.  Them and their stupid-”

_ “No.”  _ Sensei’s voice echoed in Shigaraki’s mind, stopping him in his tracks.  Shigaraki gripped the pokeball in his hand even tighter and he felt the edges of the ball digging into his hand.

“Look at them…” Shigaraki seethed, “All of them worship him like he’s a god! It makes me sick.” Shigaraki dug his nails into his skin. Pain. Pain could keep him grounded, at least until he did what he came to do.

_ “Here for intel.”  _ Sensei reminded him.  Shigaraki loosed his grip.

“Of course.” he said, unlatching one of his two pokeballs from his belt.

* * *

 

Izuku was happy that class started right when he got in the room, so nobody had time to confront him. Aizawa walked into the classroom as normal, gait slow and lazy.

“Today, we will be picking a class representative.  Decide how you’re doing it yourselves. You have ten minutes.” WIth that, he zipped himself up in his signature yellow sleeping bag.  

The classroom instantly erupted into chaos. “I want to be class rep!”

“No me!”

“What If I want to?”

It seemed like every single person in the room wanted to be the representative.  In the end, though, it was Iida that got everyone to quiet down by going to the front of the room and waving his arms frantically.

Once everyone quieted down, he spoke up once more. “I suggest that we anonymously nominate people for class representative.  Whoever gets the most nominations is crowned class rep!” Iida ended it with a dramatic fist pump. 

Luckily, there were no objections to the plan, so everyone decided to go for it, grabbing out pieces of paper and scribbling names on it.  Izuku thought for a moment, but he didn’t have to think for long. He scribbled the name and passed it to Iida.

Iida went to the front of the room and counted the results, writing them down on the board.  When Izuku saw his name at the very top of the list, his heart dropped.

_ Izuku-5 _

_ Iida-3 _

_ Yaoyorozu-2 _

The board read. Izuku buried his face in his hands. He didn’t even  _ want _ do be class representative! Groaning, he walked up to the front of the room.

“Who even voted for me?” He muttered on his way up, taking his sweet time. 

“I did!” Izuku turned around to see Kirishima, huge smile on his face. “The way you destroyed that entire building with one attack was so manly! I couldn’t help but vote for you!”

There was muttering of agreement throughout the crowd, and Izuku just grew more embarrassed.  As he neared the front of the room, he just got more and more nervous. His palms got clammy and he had a nervous tick.  He turned around to face the class, and seventeen other pairs of eyes met his, save for Bakugo, who was just staring at the ground, scowling.

Izuku opened his mouth to try to thank everyone, but now words came out.  His mind was telling him to  _ get out _ .  So Izuku did just that.

“I abdicate my position to Iida.” He said, leaving the room before anyone had room to argue.  He needed to go to the bathroom and cool down for a bit.

* * *

 

Izuku cupped the water in his hands, throwing it in his face. He tilted his head back, letting it streak down.  The cool liquid refreshed him, helping him focus. 

His mind was forcing him to avoid his classmates.  He  _ wanted _ to just be normal, not having to worry about any of these stupid tricks his mind was playing on him.  For now, he just needed time. Maybe he would be better in the future.

Izuku closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to calm himself.  When his heart rate finally slowed somewhat, Izuku leaned back against the wall behind him.  

It rested for a few moments, debating whether or not he was ready to go back to class.  Groaning, he cracked his wet eyelids open. 

And was met with a pink mass right in front of his face.

“Ahh!” Izuku jumped back, hitting his head on the wall far harder than he intended.  With a gasp of pain, Izuku’s hand shot up, grasping the back of his head. He felt slightly lightheaded suddenly.

Only then did Izuku realize what it was in front of him.  Floating, about three feet off the ground, was the pink pokemon he had run into twice before.  

“Mew…” It said, tilting its head in what looked like concern.  It bobbed closer, and Izuku scrambled away frantically. He still didn’t know what this thing was, nor its intentions.  All he knew is that it had shown up three times now, and he couldn’t find  _ any _ documentation of it on the internet.  For all he knew, it could be dangerous.

Izuku continued crawling away as the pink pokemon bobbed closer.  Izuku felt his back press up against a wall. He was stuck in the corner, and the only way out was blocked by the pink pokemon.

It floated closer, and Izuku’s breath picked up.  _ Not another panic attack.  Not already… _ The pokemon kept approaching, and Izuku’s fear bubbled to the surface, threatening to take control.

Then, the pink pokemon stopped, mere centimeters away from Izuku’s face.  He wasn’t breathing, for he dared not try. He wasn’t moving, as there was nothing to do.  He couldn’t even make his mouth find words.

The pokemon glowed softly with a green light.  The green light enveloped Izuku, covering his whole body.  The light stayed bright for a few seconds before fading away.

All the pain from hitting his head on the wall faded.  His headache was gone, and his skull didn’t even hurt from where he hurt it.  His arms tingled softly, and the prickling soreness was completely gone. 

To Izuku’s relief, the pokemon backed away, flying in a small circle, “Mew!”

Izuku unwrapped one of his arms frantically, inspecting it.  Sure enough, there was no trace of any of the damage he had sustained just a day before.  No scars, no bruises, no broken bones, nothing. It was like it had never happened.

He looked up at the pink pokemon in awe, “Did you heal me?” The pokemon just bobbed around, spinning in a circle again.  

“What are you…?” Izuku breathed.  Whatever this pokemon was, he had a feeling something was off.  It had completely healed his injuries without breaking a sweat, something even recovery girl hadn’t been able to manage.

_RING!_ _INTRUDER ALERT!_  The intercom blasted.  Izuku’s hands shot up to his ears at the absurdly loud noise.  It was the intruder alarm, which meant someone had broken into Yuuei.  If Izuku’s mind served him correctly, then the common protocol was to evacuate the school in a scenario such as this one.  

There was something else Izuku failed to notice until a moment before it was too late.  He saw the very tip of the pink pokemon’s tail disappear as it floated through the door.

_ It must have been startled by the alarm! _ Izuku panicked, rushing to the door to follow it.  Whatever was happening, he needed answers. Why had the pokemon appeared to him three times now? What did it want? 

Izuku threw open the door to the bathroom to be met with a massive crowd of people frantically trying to push each other over. Everyone was trying to get out as fast as possible, with no regard for organization.  

Izuku’s eyes scanned the area in search of the pink pokemon.  His eyes caught sight of it down the hallway, floating above people’s heads.  It was just at the edge of his vision like…

_ Like it’s waiting for me… _ Izuku realized.  The pink pokemon locked eyes with Izuku, and as soon as it did, it continued down the hall.

There were many problems with following it.  Namely the fact that he’s supposed to be evacuating right now, and the pokemon had gone in the opposite direction.  Another problem was that to get to it, he needed to go through the crowd, opposite of the direction of flow.

It was a bad idea, he knew it was.  He could get in massive trouble, or the pokemon could be leading him into a trap.  But damn it all, he needed answers. 

Taking a deep breath, Izuku stepped into the crowd.

* * *

 

Iida had no idea what to do when Midoriya announced he was abdicating his position and stormed out of the room.  He had set up an entire voting process, didn’t win, only to get the position anyways. It kind of felt like he didn’t deserve it.

Yet, looking on the entire class sitting in front of him, Iida set his mind to the position.  He may not deserve the position and he may not be the best suited for it, but he was going to try his best.

“It may be a little...unorthodox, but I suppose I am the class representative then.  I shall do my best to live up to the legacy of those upperclassmen that came before me, so that I can fill their shoes!” Iida declared, shooting his arm up.  The class just generally shrugged, becoming dissociated.

They didn’t care. They probably didn’t know the importance of the position, is all.  Iida would have to show them the characteristics of being a good leader be  _ being _ a good leader. 

“Looks like you’ve got it figured out.” Aizawa said, popping out of his sleeping bag, “You have the rest of the class hour to do whatever.” 

The class hooted in joy, pulling out all the homework they each didn’t finish.  Iida, however, pulled out a notebook. In that notebook, he wrote down every single idea that came to mind for possible responsibilities he may have as class representative, and what he could do to assume a proper leadership position. He  _ was _ going to be a good class representative, if it was the last thing he did. 

Iida had a page and a half of duties written down in the first few minutes alone.  He looked them over happily, deciding that he would look over the remaining ones once he had more time.

Iida was about to put away his notebook when a loud, blaring noise overtook the speakers.

_ RING! INTRUDER ALERT! _

The classroom erupted into chaos.

* * *

 

Izuku noticed something odd as he pushed through the mob in pursuit of the pink pokemon.  The thing was floating just above the heads of everyone in the hallway, yet  _ nobody _ even glanced at it.  Not a single curious look.  

That only meant one thing: The pokemon had some kind of cloaking ability.  If the other students were able to see it, then someone would have seen it or made a fuss about it by now.  This raised even more questions in Izuku’s mind.

If it was hiding itself from all the other students, why was it still letting him see it? Why was it running away at just the right speed that Izuku could just barely see it, yet keep up with it? Where was it leading him?

Izuku bumped shoulders with another student, and he could just barely hear people’s confusion over the other noise.  At this point, he didn’t care. He was too committed to figuring out what the  _ hell _ was going on.

* * *

 

Shigaraki scowled as he watched the press stampede through the melted hole in the wall.  Flocking to their precious  _ All Might _ .

Shigaraki recalled his pokemon silently, waiting for the chaos to ensue. 

_ Only one more objective until the quest is completed… _

* * *

 

It felt like forever, but Izuku finally broke free of the crowd.  Evidently, the amount of people that attended the other departments of Yuuei  _ wasn’t _ infinite, though it felt that way.  He broke out of the crowd and picked up his pace.

The pink pokemon phased through a metal door that Izuku recognized as a staircase.  He scanned his student ID to open the door and ran up to the metal railing. Unlike the rest of the school, the staircase was not made to look nice.  Simple concrete stairs with a black metal railing, spiraling up the entire length of the school.

Izuku frantically looked up and down the hole in the middle for a sign of which direction the pokemon went.  Luckily, he saw a flash of the signature pink tail disappear down about three flights. 

Izuku bounded down the flights of stairs three steps at a time.  He nearly fell over when he stopped himself, and his knees were slightly sore from the shock of jumping so many steps at once.  Nevertheless, he ripped open the door and was met with…

Sunshine.  The light blinded him momentarially, but when the world came back to him, he saw that he was outside. He was right at the bottom of one of the four towers.  The concrete sloped down to a wide open grass field, and right in the middle of it, bobbing up and down in the air, was the pink pokemon. 

Despite his frantic rush to catch up with the pokemon, Izuku stayed put.  He still didn’t know what the thing wanted, and it obviously led him here for a reason.  Izuku crept up slowly, hand out in front of him wardingly. 

The pink pokemon just stayed put, showing no intentions of moving.  Izuku made it as close as he intended to (about three feet away), and stopped.  The pokemon stared Izuku down like they were in a duel from one of those old western movies.

“What do you want?” Izuku finally asked.  The pokemon just tilted its head before flying a little higher and spinning somersaulting. 

“Mew!” It said happily.  

The fact that he had made literally zero progress in understanding the pokemon frustrated him, but he kept his head.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“Mew, Mew!”   
“If all that’s all you’re going to say, I might just have to call you that…” Izuku taunted.  The pokemon just ignored him, floating a foot or so closer. 

Suddenly, Izuku felt something prod his waist.  He jumped back just as a white light shone from his belt and Riolu appeared in front of him on the grass.

_ It used its tail while I was distracted... _ Izuku realized, cursing himself for being so careless.  Riolu looked between Izuku and the pokemon, before dropping into a fighting stance.  He slid one foot back, lowering his center of mass, and holding his arms up in front of him like a boxer.

Riolu was ready for a fight, but the other pokemon looked like it had no such intentions.  It just floated down to the ground, getting eye level with Riolu. Riolu tensed up, growing anxious by the second.

A blue light enveloped the pink pokemon and it...shifted.  A moment later, standing in its spot was another Riolu. Except it wasn’t a different Riolu. It was Izuku’s Riolu, perfectly copied. It even had the light scarring on the arms to boot.

Izuku’s Riolu jumped back in shock, palms glowing white with energy.  He was readying a force palm. The other Riolu just hopped up and down cheerfully, hooting happily.

“It used transform…” Izuku breathed, “I thought that was a move exclusive to Ditto!” 

The pink pokemon, now disguised as Riolu, waltzed up and got in Riolu’s face.  It tilted its head at Riolu’s cautious expression before reaching its hand up and...booping Riolu’s nose?

It jumped back, giggling uncontrollably, transforming back into its pink form.

“Did you come here to...play?” Its response was just giggling some more.  Izuku felt...disappointed. He came all this way thinking it was here for something important, only for it to completely walk on his expectations.  

The pokemon was mid giggle when it just stopped, body going rigid.  Its head snapped to the right, where Izuku saw a hole in the wall. It looked like acid had bore a hole through the concrete.  Running from where the hole was towards the main building was the press who’d been harassing Izuku and Uraraka that morning.

Izuku turned back to the hole, Izuku saw a figure, dressed in black sweatpants and a black sweatshirt walking away. When Izuku looked back towards the pink pokemon, it was gone.  

* * *

 

Shigaraki couldn’t contain his laughter.  The press swarmed the building, creating the perfect distraction.  Now to just...waltz in and find the pokemon Sensei wanted. 

Tomura didn’t have to go very far.

Before he even stepped through the hole he bore in the wall, something caught his eye.  Out on the field of grass, right in front of the school, were two figures. One was a pink pokemon with a thing, long tail, floating a few feet off the ground.  It spun around cheerfully, like it was enjoying itself.

The other was a boy, presumably a student of the wretched school.  He had shaggy green hair and looked wary, if not frightened. Even so, there was one very important thing about him.

The pokemon that had eluded Sensei for years was  _ playing _ with this boy.  That carried weight.  Shigaraki chuckled again.  _ It’s like getting two rare loot drops at once. _

“Sensei, I’ve found it.” He said, knowing that he would be heard.

_ Good, Tomura.  So it is at Yuuei...good work… _ the voice rang in his head.

“Sensei, I found something else too. I think you may be interested…”


	9. New Pokemon

**New Pokemon**

_I'm back from the dead! Yay! I have a couple explanations as to why I took 3 weeks to upload again, so those of you that don't care can skip ahead to the chapter._

_First off, I took a 1 week hiatus from writing BNHA to write for a fandom I fell in love with, and that was Darling in the Franxx. I really enjoyed writing it and I will be updating that one periodically._

_Secondly, I sat down with the people over on the IzuOcha discord (Thanks all of you!) and made the plan for the next three arcs of this fic. It's planned out and in a google document._

_The final reason is how LONG this chapter was. I know it may only look like about 5k, but this chapter was split. Before I cut it in half so that I could upload, it was at 11k words and not even done yet. SO I just decided to upload._

_Anyways, enjoy._

* * *

 

_**WARNING: MAJOR MANGA SPOILERS IN THIS CHAPTER!** _

* * *

 

"Today, we are going over a few important things, so get in your seats." Aizawa said, shuffling into the room. He looked tired. That is to say, even more tired than normal, and Izuku suspected why.

After the break in the previous day, school had ended early to give the teachers ample time to deal with the logistics. Turns out the giant metal doors that normally kept unauthorized people out of the school had been completely dissolved.

One would think that'd make the search for the culprit, yet that wasn't the case. There was a small list of pokemon with acid strong enough to chew through solid metal. Swalot, Toxicroak, Dragalge, and Salazzle are the only pokemon capable of such a feat.

The problem is that none of the reporters owned one of those pokemon, which meant that the culprit was some sort of free agent trying to stir up trouble. There was an ongoing investigation to search for the villain responsible.

Every time someone brought up the entire situation, Izuku couldn't help but think back to the person he had seen through the wall. A person in a black hoodie, walking suspiciously away from the scene.

Izuku shoot his head, clearing his mind so that he could focus on the lecture Aizawa was about to give.

Aizawa reached behind the lecture desk, and pulled out a black bag, setting it on the wooden surface before him. Unzipping the black leather, he revealed the contents to the class.

"These are Ultra Balls. An expensive version of a standard pokeball that dramatically increases catch rate. Come grab three." When nobody moved immediately, Aizawa sighed, "I don't have all day."

The class got up from their seats and moved towards the front of the room. Each person grabbed three ultra balls and attached them to their belts, each with a confused look on their face. Aizawa waited until everyone was seated once more before he continued.

"As a trainer, it is imperative that you have a well balanced team." Aizawa skipped straight to the point, "Many of you only own a single pokemon, which is a problem which cannot be ignored. So, I have created a goal for this week."

Aizawa continued, "Over the course of this week, each person who doesn't already have more than one pokemon is required to catch a wild one. This is mandatory."

Izuku's breath caught in his throat.

 _Catch...a wild pokemon…?_ Izuku forced himself to stay calm. Maybe there would be a workaround. Maybe he could work something out with Aizawa.

"You are not required to keep the pokemon at the end of the week. You may either release it or keep it, it doesn't matter to me. What matters is you getting practice catching wild pokemon." Aizawa finished, "That is all."

The classroom erupted into chaos.

"Yo, have you seen these  _Ultra Balls_?" Kirishima yelled, holding up the yellow and black Pokeball, "It looks so manly!"

"Where can I find a wild pokemon? Anyone seen any around?" Mina asked.

"There's usually a bunch near the park in the Tatooine Ward!" Someone called out.

Everyone was congregating and discussing their new assignment. Everyone except for Izuku. He had his head buried in his hands, running his fingers through his deep green hair.

* * *

 

"Aizawa?" Izuku asked, staying behind after the bell rang. Aizawa's head popped out from the inside of the yellow cocoon. His hair was disheveled, as always.

_He probably knows...why am I so nervous about saying it?_

"What is it? Don't you have a class to go to?" Aizawa mumbled from inside his sleeping bag. Izuku too a deep breath, steadying himself.

"I was wondering if-"

"You aren't exempt from the assignment." Aizawa said simply, getting up. Izuku just stood, frozen as his teacher passed by him, making for the door. Aizawa turned back, saying something over his shoulder.

"We're the top hero school in the country. We won't baby you. Figure it out."

With that, Izuku was left alone once more inside the room, trying to sort out of his thoughts.

Izuku was in a sour mood for the entire rest of the day, and Ochako noticed. He was usually so involved in class, taking notes, everything. Yet, here he was, staring off at the wall, a distant look on his face.

He'd occasionally look away from the spot his eyes were plastered on, but that was only to put his hands in his face or run his hand through his hair. Not once did he pick up his pen all day.

Every time there was a passing period, he was out of the room last, and showed up to the next class late. Ochako was beginning to worry, seeing him like this. The normally peppy, happy go lucky Izuku she knew had been replaced with an imposter. It kind of hurt to watch.

She knew exactly what was troubling him, too. It was the assignment Aizawa had given them in homeroom that day. She was one of the only ones that knew of his...condition, so of course she was one of the only ones that could do something about it.

Lunch time came around, and Ochako decided to wait outside the classroom for Izuku to come out.

It was a few minutes before the signature green hair waltzed out of the room.

"Hey Deku!" Ochako said cheerfully, hoping to draw his attention. She must have caught him by surprise, because he jumped back, nearly dropping all of his things in the process.

"Oh hey, Uraraka." He said, flashing her a smile. She could tell it was fake and forced.

"You want to go eat lunch?" She said, trying to get his mind off of whatever he was thinking.  
"Don't we eat lunch together with Iida every day?"

"I was thinking we could go eat lunch together. Just the two of us!" Admittedly, Ochako didn't think about the implications of what she was saying until the words came out of her mouth. Her goal was to get him alone so she could ask about what was bothering him without other students hearing.

Except, the way she said it made it sound completely different. Immediately, her face turned as red as a tomato, as did Izuku. Actually, Izuku looked more like a strawberry, considering his face.

"S-Sure!" He said.

 _Well at least his mind is off those bad thoughts…_  she thought.

Luckily, Yuuei had a pretty large campus, and the field was available to eat on during lunch. Ochako and Izuku made their way over to a tree in the field that nobody was around. They sat down under the canopy, a few feet away from each other.

"So…" Ochako started, unsure how to approach the topic.

"It's a nice day out." Izuku said, gesturing to the scenery. It really as a nice day. The sun was out, and there wasn't even a trace of clouds in the sky. The heat of the sun wasn't too intense, since it was mid-spring, but it still gave enough heat to keep the cold wind at bay.

"It is…" Ochako trailed off, seeing a flock of pidgey fly overhead.

Silence fell like a sledgehammer, the only noise being the noise of other students playing soccer on the turf a few wards away.

Eventually, Ochako couldn't take it anymore, "Are you okay?" She asked.

Izuku didn't respond immediately.

"It's about the project Aizawa gave us, right?" Izuku nodded solemnly. He sighed and took a deep breath.

"It's all so confusing to me." Izuku said. Ochako tilted her head. "All my life, I'd been ridiculed for what I didn't have. I  _couldn't_  touch pokemon, I  _couldn't_  be a trainer. Then, by some stroke of luck, all that's changed in the matter of a few weeks. I thought all my hard work would've gone down the drain after that battle trail, but nobody has even  _asked_  me about it." Izuku ran his hand through his hair.

"You didn't get here because you were lucky." Ochako said, "You got here because you worked for it." Izuku didn't seem like he was listening.

"Now, there's this project. Yet another thing I can't do because my  _damn_  head won't do what I tell it! Every time I try, something in the back of my mind stops me! I hate it!" Izuku smashed his fist into the ground, where it impacted a tree root. Izuku slumped, laying down on the ground. In the space where his fist hit the ground, the tree root was completely broken, a crack running down the middle.

_When did he get so strong?_

Ochako didn't know what to say.

"Maybe I should just take the fail on this assignment." Izuku muttered.

"What happened to the Deku that never gives up?" The words slipped out of her mouth before she knew what she was saying. Izuku looked over at her, so she continued.

"Do you remember what I told you back in that hallway before the battle trial? I said that we came to this school to learn to become heroes. We won't get it immediately, and you may have to work harder than anyone else, but I know you can do it!"  
"You just can't give up!" Ochako said, giving him the biggest smile she could manage, "You have to keep fighting, even if you fail. You may not be able to catch a pokemon this time, but if you keep trying, I know you'll do it eventually. One of these days, you're going to reach out, and you won't freeze up." Ochako took a deep breath in, catching up on air.

Izuku looked her in the eyes, and smile. This time, it wasn't one of those fake smiles like the one from the hallway. This one was a real smile.

"Thank you. I can't promise I'll get it, but I'll try my hardest." Izuku said.

* * *

 

Izuku felt refreshed after lunch. He wasn't completely better, but his talk with Uraraka had certainly helped. Turns out he needed someone to tell him he was being stupid every once in a while.

The bell rang for the final class of the day, and Izuku made his way to the front of the school to meet Uraraka. He was about halfway there when he felt a tug on his arm.

"Hey! In here!" A voice called, pulling Izuku into a side room.

"Who's-!" Izuku started, startled by his sudden detour. Upon entering the room, he saw who was there.

"All Might" Izuku breathed out, relaxing. He was in his small form, which explained why he had pulled Izuku into a private room. They couldn't have students figuring out his secret, after all.

All Might led Izuku to a set of couches surrounding a coffee table. The window next to them overlooked the school entrance, where the sun was just visible over the horizon.

"Midoriya, my boy, are you okay?" All Might broke the tension.

Izuku actually sputtered out a small laugh, which startled the blonde hero. "You're the second one to ask me that today…And I think I'm okay. Not good, but not bad either."

"I heard about this week's assignment." All Might started, "I remember that from my first year…"

Izuku reached around into his backpack, pulling out three black and yellow ultra balls, setting them down on the table.

"It's not all that bad, if I'm remembering the parameters of the assignment correctly. It only calls for catching a pokemon and showing it to your homeroom teacher at the end of the week. You aren't even required to keep it." Izuku nodded in response.

"Technically, I could catch a pokemon without even having to touch it, now that I think about it, but that's not what I want to do." Izuku looked down at Riolu's pokeball on his belt, and he unhooked it. He pressed the button on the middle, and Riolu came popping out in a bask of white light.

"What do you mean?" All Might tilted his head.

"Something I've learned from all these weeks I've spent with Riolu is that Pokemon are really similar to us, in many ways. Riolu acts just like one of us, although immature sometimes." Riolu scoffed, turning his head away and crossing his arms pridefully. It elicited a laugh from All Might.

"The point is," Izuku continued, "I don't want to treat a pokemon like an object. I don't want to go catch a pokemon that I can't use because my stupid head won't let me just for an assignment. If I'm going to catch a pokemon, it's because it's going to be my partner, one that I can depend on. I won't discard it just because I needed it for the assignment."

All Might felt a little proud inside, hearing what Izuku was saying,  _Sounds like something I'd say…_  All Might reached out a hand and placed it on Izuku's shoulder.

"Whatever you do, I believe you'll make the right choice. You haven't let me down yet, my boy." All Might gave a skeletal smile. The way Izuku's face lit up, he must have been one of the happiest children to ever walk the earth.

All Might went to stand up, but Izuku stayed sitting down on the opposite side of the table.

"What did you do for this assignment, All Might?" he asked.

All Might paused, before reaching to his side. He pushed aside the yellow suit jacket and pulled something off his belt. He opened his palm and pressed the button on the ultra ball he had just retrieved.

It opened and white light pulled out of the inside, forming into a shape. Izuku had to jump back as to not be crushed by what was forming. When the light dispersed, a beautiful, elegant sea serpent stood between them.

"Milotic?" Izuku recalled a select few times All Might had called upon this pokemon for assistance. The Milotic had formed in the center of the room, right on top of the coffee table. The coffee table groaned in protest to the sudden weight on top of it before the legs gave way, snapping the wooden structure in two.

"I guess I owe the school a new table…" All Might muttered, scratching his chin. Izuku couldn't help but laugh. Milotic rotated its body, giving All Might the sassiest look that it could muster, which added to the hilarity.

Once Izuku calmed down, All Might continued. "I caught Milotic here as a feebas, way back in the day. She was my first partner other than Lucario, though she doesn't get out much these days." MIlotic shot him a glare, "Sorry." All Might muttered.

"She's my water rescue specialist. It's not often that she gets the spotlight, but when she does, I know I can rely on her." All Might recalled Milotic back to her ball, returning it to his belt.

"So you kept your pokemon too?"

"It's just as you said, my boy. Pokemon are like people too. They have feelings, dreams, desires. When I caught feebas way back when, it was because she had been injured and I needed a way to get her to the hospital safely. I couldn't leave her after that. As sassy and sarcastic as she is, we both care deeply for each other." All Might recalled that fated day by the river.

 _It's kind of like what happened with Riolu…_  Izuku realized, noting the similarities between the stories.

"It's getting late, and I believe you have some things to think about tonight. I think it's time we get going." All Might pulled Izuku to his feet.

Izuku nodded, "Thanks for your advice, All Might."

"Any time, my boy."

* * *

 

Izuku made a decision that night. He might not succeed in catching and keeping a pokemon, but he was going to try his damndest.

He fell into a routine over the next few days. He'd wake up as normal, go to school with Uraraka, come home for a short time, then leave the house immediately after. From after school until dinner was what Izuku called 'Patrol time'.

During patrol time, he acted very similar to what heroes do when they are on their patrols. He walked the streets with Riolu, going along a random route. The only difference is Izuku wasn't looking for villains, but instead, he was looking for pokemon in need.

His thought process was that if he had been able to ignore his ptsd in order to save Riolu, then maybe he could do it again. Not only that, but Izuku also had been inspired by All Might's story of how he met Milotic.

It was now the third day and Izuku was starting to give up hope. Turns out the streets of Musutafu are not only desert of most pokemon, but the ones that did live in the city were able to fend for themselves. There weren't any injured feebas or anything of the like.

Izuku plopped himself down on the metal park bench, giving his legs a rest. Riolu hopped up, sitting down next to him. Izuku sighed, looking around him. The park was filled with various people doing activities. There was a group of middle schoolers playing soccer to his right, while on the left a group of children was playing on the playground.

There was a group of pidgey in the field behind him, and there were a few wurmple and weedle in the trees. Among the boys playing soccer, there was a couple pokemon enjoying the fun as well.

 _It's been a while since Riolu and I calmed down and had some fun…_  Izuku realized, noticing the look Riolu had on his face, looking on the festivities. Izuku nudged him with his elbow.

"What do you say we have some fun, buddy?" Izuku asked. Riolu immediately nodded enthusiastically. Izuku stood up off the bench, stretching his legs.

"How about we have a race. First one to make two laps of the park is the winner." Riolu looked at him, and put out his hand, as if to say, "What do I get when I beat you?" Izuku snorted in laughter.

"Don't get cocky." Izuku said, taking up a starting position, "Three, two o-"

Izuku didn't even get through the last number before Riolu took of at a sprint. Izuku jumped into action, trying to catch up to his partner.

"Oh no you don't!" Izuku yelled, running desperately to keep up.

* * *

 

Mirio Togata was on patrol for Nighteye around the park in the center of Musutafu. It was a nice day outside, which really improved his mood. Not only that, but it was particularly relaxing to just be out with his partner. Just him and Gallade, out looking for any villains.

Mirio was used to the routine by now. Get done at school, head to Nighteye's agency, head out for a patrol, then go home. It may seem like a repetitive and boring existence to most, but Mirio was a workaholic, so it actually pleased him.

What was even better was the fact that most patrols did not include fighting villains. Sometimes he would run into the spare thug on the street, but most days either nothing would happen, or he'd end up helping out a pokemon in need, such as a pidgey with a clipped wing, or something else of that nature.

Today was no different. He was strolling through the park carelessly, searching the area for any villains. He wasn't in his hero uniform today, instead just walking around in a regular tee shirt and jeans. He scanned over the park and took note of the happenings.

A group of kids playing soccer, while another played on the playground. Pokemon were littered through the area, but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. That is, until Mirio noticed something moving on the opposite side of the park.

It was a blue and black blur of movement running on the sidewalk that circled the park. Trailing slightly behind was another figure, but the most notable feature from what he could see was a bobbing mass of green hair.

The two figures made their way around the makeshift track, sprinting at full speed. Mirio was impressed by the speed. It was certainly a spectacle to behold. Mirio watched as the two figures looped around, and as they passed by him, he got a better look of them.

The one in first place was a Riolu, though he barely identified it as it blew by him. Just on the pokemon's heels was a boy, probably fifteen or sixteen. He blew by, green tuft moving slightly against the wind. There was one more thing Mirio  _swore_  he saw as he passed by.

He  _swore_  he saw the trails of green sparks cackling off their skin. Mirio blinked, trying to clear his eyes, but by the time his eyes adjusted, they were too far away to see.

Though he knew he should be on his patrol, Mirio decided to wait. For some reason, he was curious as to what the boy was chasing the pokemon for. So, Mirio sat down on the metal park bench next to him, and waited for the boy and the pokemon to make it back around.

They rounded the last stretch after a couple minutes, and this time they were both going ever so slightly slower, obviously winded. The two were neck and neck now, fighting for the lead. Just as they passed by Mirio, the Riolu blew by and took the lead, winning by a fraction of a second.

Mirio raised his hands, clapping for them.

"Good race! It was close!" He called, drawing the attention of the two. The boy only just seemed to notice he was there.

"T-thanks…" he breathed out, trying to preserve his breath. Mirio reached into his bag and pulled out a couple of bottles of water, handing them to the two. The boy drained the whole thing an a couple seconds, and the Riolu followed soon after. Gallade stood behind the bench, watching for any trouble in the park while Mirio took his break .

"Thanks, again." The boy said, scratching the side of his head.

"That was quite an impressive race you had there. You kept up with a Riolu, which is pretty impressive." Mirio complimented.

"Yeah, that. We figured we'd have some fun and take a break from our patrol."

 _Ironic…_  Mirio thought.

"What do you mean 'patrol'?" He questioned. The boy looked slightly embarrassed at the question.

"It's not really a patrol, I've just been calling it that." The boy sat down on the bench next to Mirio, leaning into it and resting his legs.

There was a lack of noise for a few painful moments as Izuku caught his breath.

"What's your name?" Mirio decided to ask, breaking the ice that seemed to settle over the conversation.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya," He said, sticking his hand out to shake. Mirio took it and was surprised by the firmness of the grip.

"I'm Mirio Togata." He introduced himself with a big smile on his face. Nejire had called it 'cartoonish' once, and every time he looked in the mirror, he couldn't help but agree, "what kind of patrolling are you doing?"

Izuku looked down at his feet, "I'm looking for pokemon for an assignment for class." he said. Mirio could tell he was omitting details, but it didn't matter much. Izuku moved his overshirt around a little and Mirio caught a glance of three objects attached to his belt.

Three ultra balls, all marked that they were empty. Mirio noticed those pokeballs, a memory dating back to his first year at Yuuei.

 _So he's a first year…_  Mirio thought, keeping his realization to himself.

"You were running quite fast, I noticed. How did you keep it up for so long?" The green sparks he'd seen flashed in Mirio's mind. He'd never seen anything like that. Then again, it could've been his eyes playing tricks on him.

"I've trained for a while, I guess. Since over a year ago I've been training." Izuku admitted. Mirio felt a nudge on his arm. Looking over his shoulder, he saw gallade, tapping his wrist impatiently.

"Well, I guess it's my time to go." Mirio said, standing up. He gave Izuku a big thumbs up, "Good luck with your assignment!"

"Thank you! I'll do my best…" Izuku muttered, looking away and down at his Riolu.

 _What an odd fellow…_  Mirio thought to himself as he walked away.

* * *

 

Izuku came out of the engagement with Mirio feeling awkward. He was nice, that was for certain, but it was odd that he approached Izuku out of the blue, and with a pokemon by his side no less. Izuku knew that Gallade were known for being particularly fearsome battlers.

Shaking his mind clear, Izuku decided it was time to head home for the night. He and Riolu walked down the evening streets generally alone. It was seven o'clock on a weekday, to be fair. It was relaxing.

And because the world seemed to have it out for him, that relaxation did not last. Izuku turned the corner and was met with a very familiar face by now.

Floating a few feet off the ground in front of Izuku was the pink pokemon that had made many appearances in the past. It bobbed slightly up and down on thin air, defying gravity.

Izuku stopped in his tracks. The pokemon looked Izuku up and down, and proceeded to do the same thing to Riolu, as if it were confirming that they were who they looked like. Izuku stood still for the whole ordeal, hoping the pokemon wouldn't get too close.

Eventually, it backed off, and only then did Izuku notice something. Every time in the past that the pokemon had made an appearance, it had a playful demeanor. It would be spinning around in circles, making happy noises and messing with Izuku.

Now, however, that demeanor was gone, replaced by a much more serious one. There wasn't any bobbing around or mid-air flips. No games it was playing to try to mess with Izuku. Its moves were rigid, and its face was slanted just the right way that made it seem a lot more fearsome than before.

_Something's wrong._

As if to confirm his suspicions, the pokemon gestured to Izuku before floating away. Izuku subconsciously broke into a jog, following behind the pokemon carefully, still cautious of where it was leading him. Riolu sayed right on his heels too.

They took a few turns, going down streets Izuku had only been on a spare few times. Izuku got a few weird looks from civilians, and from that he deduced that they couldn't see the pink pokemon he was following.

Finally, the pokemon stopped after a final corner turn. Izuku looked at his surroundings.

It was an area of the town primarily used for storage, just based off of the sheer number of warehouses around. The cylindrical domes towered overhead, almost giving an eerie feeling.

"Why did you lead me-" Izuku turned to ask the pink pokemon, but stopped when he saw it. It was frozen, staring down the alleyway right next to them. It was glaring into the dark abyss, hate in its eyes.

Cautiously, Izuku took a step forwards, trying to peer into the alleyway for what the pokemon was staring at. Suddenly, something in the abyss moved.

Izuku jumped back, and Riolu sprang into action, taking up a spot between Izuku and whatever was in they alleyway. Izuku heard faint footsteps and…

Something shot out of the alleyway, straight past Riolu, not even paying the pokemon a millisecond of attention. Something wrapped itself around Izuku's leg.

He looked down and all he saw was...white hair?

A little girl had come running out of the alleyway, and she was now clinging to Izuku's leg. He could feel her shaking for some reason. Izuku had no experience with this sort of situation, so he just did what felt right.

He kneeled down, getting on eye level with the girl, and put an arm around her back. From the quick glimpse of her face that he got, he saw that she had bright red eyes along with the white hair, and she was wearing a measly hospital gown. Bandages wound her arms from wrist to shoulder, as well as her legs.

Izuku felt her fast breathing against his ear. Her nails were digging into his skin, even through the shirt he was wearing. Whatever it was, she was  _terrified_. She was holding onto him for dear life.

"I'm sorry about my daughter. She likes to run off sometimes." A voice said from the alley. Izuku looked up to see a man emerge from the gap. He wore dress shirt and tie topped with a gross looking hoodie. His black hair was disheveled and messy, and he wore white gloves.

Most notably of all, however, was his facial attire. Strapped to his face was a red leather and gold bird beak. It covered the entire lower half of his face. Izuku saw the pink pokemon out of the corner of his eye glaring murderously at the new person.

"Your...daughter?" Izuku asked, unconvinced. He would have been suspicious from the get-go, just based on the girl's terrified actions. Now that he saw the pink pokemon's venomous distaste for the man, Izuku knew something was wrong.

"Yeah, I apologize. Eri, let's go." The girl, apparently Eri, gripped onto Izuku's back even tighter, forcing herself to not let go. Izuku put an arm around her back, trying his best to comfort her.

"Are you sure? She seems a little scared." Izuku replied, layering suspicion onto his voice. In the back of his mind, he prodded towards the well of power that was One for All. he tugged on it ever so slightly, just enough to let Riolu know what he was doing.

Riolu turned around, giving a sharp nod to Izuku, apparently having felt the slight pull. Izuku felt Riolu touch the edge of the well of power as well, ready for a fight. If there was going to be one, they'd need the jump start.

The man with the bird mask sighed, throwing his hands up. "She's been difficult lately. Discipline issues and the like." He reached his hand out, "I have dinner cooking at home, and I would really like my daughter back." His voice was emotionless.

Izuku made a move to stand up, and he felt Eri tense up in his arms.

"D-Don't Go. P-p-please…" She breathed out into his ear. It sicked Izuku to see a little girl in a state like this. Whatever he did, sending Eri back with this man was  _not_  an option. Izuku stood up, holding Eri in his arms still.

She was surprisingly lightweight.  _Disturbingly_  lightweight. Like that of a malnourished child.

"How about I walk with you there? She seems a little tired and I don't mind." Izuku said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"It's not nice to involve yourself in someone else's home life." The man said, voice carrying anger.

"I really don't mind." Izuku said, taking a step towards the side, as if he were going to continue walking down the street.

The man coughed loudly, causing Izuku to turn. He saw the man, with his hands on his hips, unmoving. His sweatshirt was moved parted so that you could see the side of his belt. Suddenly, Eri gasped, tearing herself from Izuku's arms.

"No-" Izuku breathed as Eri, body shaking the whole way, made her way back to the man in the bird mask.

"Thank you, now let's go home." The man said, turning. As his sweatshirt moved back into place, he saw what the man had done to get Eri back.

There were three pokeballs on his belt.

 _He showed his murderous intent…_  Izuku realized. Originally, Izuku had thought that the man was just a bad person who was abusive to his 'daughter', but now it was so, so much more than that.

That man was a  _villain._

And he was too far away by now for Izuku to chase down, and that left him alone on the street with Riolu and the pink pokemon, trying to figure out what to do.

* * *

_That's it for now! Also, YES Izuku will eventually figure out Mew's name (Kinda) so that it doesn't get refered to as the "Pink Pokemon" forever._


	10. Encounter

**Encounter**

_I'm back again everyone! I hope you liked my thing I'm doing with switching up some arcs. Anyways, here's another chapter. By the way, watch out for the next thing I post! It's going to be a Kimi No Na Wa AU for Izuocha. for now, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Toshinori was not used to having free time. Between working as a hero for three hours a day to working as a teacher for the rest, he did not get much downtime. At worst he'd be up all night making plans for the next day's classes, and at best he'd go to bed as soon as he got home.

That's exactly why he was surprised when he got home at five o'clock in the afternoon with nothing left to fill the day up with. So, for the first time in probably over a year, Toshinori turned on the tea kettle and sat down in front of his TV to catch up on some shows.

It was relaxing getting time like this, but Toshinori knew it wouldn't last. Tomorrow would be right back into the normal, busy schedule.

 _Oh, Everyone would probably appreciate being out..._ All Might realized, unhooking three pokeballs from his belt. He popped them open and out came his team. His three best friends that he knew he could trust, no matter what.

Lucario, his first partner. Toshinori still remembered those days, all those years ago, that he spent raising him from an egg. His family had been extraordinarily poor, and did not have the money to support a pokemon as part of the family. Still, when Toshinori found the egg, abandoned in an alleyway, he couldn't just leave it. Lucario was his best friend.

Then there was Milotic. When Toshinori found her in that riverbed, injured severely, she had been but a feeble feebas. It didn't matter what kind of pokemon she was, only that she was a pokemon in need.

Finally, there was Braviary, the last one to join his team. Toshinori found Braviary as a captive in a hostage situation a few years back, after he was already a hero. It was an underground pokemon trafficking scheme that dealt in the trading of rare pokemon. Braviary was special, in that he had an extremely rare color scheme compared to other Braviary, and thus was dubbed as a 'shiny pokemon'. After the rescue, the pokemon found itself attached to Toshinori, and eventually he joined his team.

The four of them lounged around for a little while,enjoying the free time in Toshinori's cramped apartment. That is, they were enjoying it until the phone rang.

Toshinori reached into his pocket and retrieved the vibrating phone. On the screen it showed the contact information of 'Izuku Midoriya'. Toshinori frowned.

It was not unusual for his successor to contact Toshinori. The boy practically worshipped the ground he walked on, so texts complimenting him on his most recent villain capture were not out of the ordinary. Phone calls, on the other hand, were unheard of.

Toshinori accepted the call and put the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" he greeted.

"All Might-" Midoriya stammered out. He wasn't stuttering and the tone of his voice was extremely serious. In the background, Toshinori swore he heard the boy panting.

"Is something wrong?" He prompted.

"All Might-" Midoriya repeated, "I think I just…" he trailed off.

_Just…? Is he injured?_

Midoriya continued, "Can you meet me at the school?"

"Midoriya, my boy, what's the matter?" Toshinori urged. He heard a deep breath from the other side.

"I think I just had an encounter with a  _very_  dangerous villain."

Toshinori didn't give time to mull it over. Within seconds Braviary and Milotic were back in their pokeballs and Toshinori was in his muscle form, running to meet his successor at the school, calling the police along the way.

* * *

The panic didn't set in until Izuku was on his way back to Yuuei.

 _Holy...that was a_ _ **real**_   _villain…_  Izuku thought as he ran down the streets, Riolu by his side and the pink pokemon following him closely behind. He went up against a real, most likely dangerous villain without a second thought for his own safety. The moment he saw Eri in need, all sense of self-preservation went out the window.

 _Was that really the right thing to do?_ Izuku started doubting himself. He knew for a  _fact_  that Eri was in need and needed help. Yet, he couldn't help but think: If he got himself killed would it have really mattered? What could  _he_  do against a villain, considering his significant lack of training ? Still, he had decided to be hard headed and throw himself at the problem without thinking.

Looking back on it now, it would have been smart to just let Eri go and report it to the pro's to deal with, but hindsight is always twenty twenty.

Something still bugged Izuku about that assumption as he ran down the streets of Musutafu. It was something about the way Eri had clung onto him, as if she were desperate. No child should have to go through what she must have gone through, and it shook Izuku to his core.

If the way she clung onto him wasn't a telltale sign of something  _wrong_ , then the bandages that covered her arms and legs head to toe were. The meager pillowcase of a gown she was wearing, as well.

Izuku tried in vain to push the thoughts down under the surface as he made it to the school, panting from the run over. He could see All Might in his muscle form already standing just outside the gates.

* * *

It wasn't long before Midoriya showed up. All Might had only been waiting out front of the school for a few minutes before his young successor came running from down one of the streets. Luckily it was already getting late, so All Might didn't have to worry about some paparazzi showing up to interrupt them.

As Izuku ran towards Toshinori, he swore he saw something gleaning in the dark. It was like a green glow radiated around Midoriya and Riolu. Then again, it could've been his old eyes playing tricks on him.

Izuku stopped a few feet away from Toshinori, leaning over and catching his breath. Riolu didn't seem too winded, but they pokemon was still breathing rather hard.

"What's the matter, Young Midoriya?" Toshinori asked, but realized his mistake a moment later. Midoriya had told him what was the matter over the phone a few minutes ago.

"I-I-I-" Midoriya stuttered, still breathing deeply to catch his breath, "I think we should talk about this inside." He finally spat out.

 _Is it that serious?_  Toshinori pondered. Initially he had thought that the boy was overreacting to something. He tended to unnecessarily fret over the smallest of things and blow them out of proportion. Maybe he had a run in with a purse thief or something. Now, however, he wasn't too sure.

"We can go inside if you'd like. I think there are a few other staff still at the school at this kind of hour." Toshinori said. Midoriya just nodded and made his way to the building.

* * *

"I think I ran into a child trafficker." Izuku said to the room. Sitting around the table were All Might, Aizawa (who Izuku had  _no_  idea why he was still at the school at such an hour), and the principal of the school, who was actually a pokemon. A talking, supposedly genetically engineered Raichu, to be more specific.

He looked different than other Raichu Izuku had seen as well. The yellow and orange fur was lighter in color and he stood atop his tail, using it like a surfboard. It was rather odd to see a weird raichu surfing on its tail in a business suit, but that didn't matter right now.

"Or maybe just a villain who was abusive towards his daughter or…" Izuku trailed his hands through his hair, trying to come up with an explanation.

"How about we start from the beginning?" Nezu said, "What happened?"

"It all started when I was out looking for pokemon for Aizawa's assignment." Izuku started with a deep breath, "I was out looking for pokemon and I…" He trailed off.

 _How do I explain how I found them without mentioning the pink pokemon?_ Izuku's eyes darted to the pokemon, who was bobbing up and down above All Might's head.

"I thought I saw a rattata go down an alleyway, so I went after it," Izuku came up with, hoping he didn't pause for too long, "And I chased it down a couple alleyways until I lost track of it. From there, I had no Idea where I was so I kinda started to make my way back to my house, but I think I took a few wrong turns along the way and I ended up in an area with a ton of warehouses. I wandered around for a little while until I heard something moving in the space between two warehouses and…"

Izuku collected himself before continuing. He was still shaking a little bit from the shock of the whole situation.

"And then there was this girl...maybe five or six. She ran out of the alleyway and the first thing she did was grab onto my leg and hold on. She held on so tight it was-" He cut himself off, clenching his fists. Luckily, the rest of the teachers stayed quiet, giving him time to collect his thoughts.

"And then the man came after. He looked like he was in his mid twenties, but he was dressed so oddly. He had a dress shirt and tie on, but also jeans and a sweatshirt. The most notable, though, was that he had this odd looking bird beak on. It was red leather with gold highlights, and it was strapped to his face. It made him look like a plague doctor without the goggles. Really, though I didn't get a good look at him. I was a little focused on other things…"

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Aizawa asked, but Izuku didn't seem to be hearing him.

"And the girl, he called her Eri...she was so scared. I could feel her shaking and when she put her arms around me...oh  _god_ …she squeezed onto me and her nails dug into my skin. She was so  _scared.._.I've never seen someone so scared! And her arms and legs...They were covered in  _bandages_. Top to bottom, every inch over her skin was wrapped in  _bandages_." Izuku started rambling off, his breathing speeding up. He was starting to have a panic attack.

"And when she clung on she was so weak...so so weak…" He continued on, "And I tried to help. I wanted to get her out of there but…"

"Midoriya-" Aizawa tried to interrupt him, but to no avail.

"And she was so terrified...but she still went back.  _Why_  did she go back? He showed his pokeballs on his hip and she  _went back_. She was so scared and she  _went. Back._ " Izuku was barely keeping it together now.

"She was so brave and-"

"Midoriya."

"Why couldn't I have just run away? Why did I leave her?"

"Mid-"

" _Why? Why did I have to mess up?_  Who the hell knows what they could be doing to her?" Izuku was panting. Suddenly, he felt a presence on his shoulder, like an anchor bringing him back to the present. It was All Might's hand.

"I think that's enough for now. You can try again if you're feeling better later. For now, take go home and get some rest." All Might instructed. Izuku nodded, standing up. Though, he wasn't sure how much rest he was going to be able to get,

"If you need to take the day off tomorrow, I don't care. Do it if you need." Aizawa said as Izuku made for the door. He was still shivering slightly from his sudden panic attack, but he was able to force a smile. That was the closest thing to a blessing he would ever get from the underground hero.

* * *

Izuku didn't sleep overnight, but he still wanted to go to school. He knew he  _needed_  to go to school. He met with Uraraka as normal in the morning and tried to play everything off like it was normal. Yet, on the inside, he was still reeling from the previous day's encounter.

"Have you figured out what you're doing for the assignment yet?" Uraraka asked as they walked from the train station to the school.

"Oh umm…" Izuku pulled himself from his thoughts. Whenever he had a spare moment of thought, his mind drifted to how Eri clung onto him for dear life. "I haven't yet."

"Well, It's due tomorrow...I hope you figure something out!" Uraraka said cheerfully. Always so cheerful, it was admirable. Izuku wished he could be that happy. So he put up a facade.

"I think I'll get it done. I hope so, at least!" Izuku put on a fake smile. Uraraka gave him a big smile in response, and it  _almost_  made Izuku feel better. Almost.

They got to school and sat down in their seats and waited for class to start. There was some chatter around the classroom from who had what pokemon for the assignment, but Izuku decided to tune them out.

Soon enough, Aiawa walked into the classroom. His eyes glazed over the classroom and Izuku swore they stopped for an extra moment an Izuku before moving on. He walked up to the podium and his eyes glazed over the class while they all went to their seats and stopped talking.

"Your assignment is due tomorrow at the start of class. Don't disappoint me." Aizawa muttered. The class started to talk again, but he held up his hand to signal that he wasn't finished.

"Additionally, we will be going on a field trip at the beginning of next week. It is just off campus, so be prepared for that. That is all." AIzawa said, sinking behind the podium. The class burst into conversation about the news.

"A field trip?"  
"I wonder where we're going!"

"This is going to be so much fun!"

Izuku, on the other hand, fell into his hands, barely able to stay awake. He could feel the bags under his eyes as if they were weights attached to the skin under his eyes. He barely noticed Iida and Uraraka take up position right next to his desk.

"So what pokemon have you captured for this exercise, Uraraka?" Iida said a little to loud, causing Izuku to reach up to his ear at the sudden noise.

"I talked to Aizawa about it earlier this week. Since Todoroki and I both have two pokemon, he exempted us from the assignment. I'm going to keep the ultra balls, though. They might fetch a good price if I'm ever in a money pinch…" Uraraka responded. Izuku choked back a laugh.

"That got something out of him" Uraraka cheered. Izuku forced his head up to meet his friends' eyes. They were both looking at him with smiles on their faces.

 _Friends...I've been selfish,_  Izuku realized. He smiled. It wasn't completely genuine, but there he didn't have to fake it this time.

"Thank you guys. I've been dealing with something lately and It's been hard." Izuku admitted, "I didn't really get any sleep last night."

"Midoriya! An appropriate amount of sleep is essential to keeping the body happy and healthy!" Iida called out, waving his arms frantically. Uraraka snorted out a laugh.

"I think he meant that he couldn't fall asleep, Iida." Uraraka shook her head, patting Izuku's shoulder.

"Nevertheless! We must ensure that our friends are taking proper care of themselves so that the can become amazing heroes one day!"

Izuku laughed out loud just as the bell rang for everyone to go to the rest of their classes. Izuku picked up his bag and made to leave, walking in tandem with Uraraka and Iida. Just as he was about to pass the door, though, there was a rusling from the front of the classroom.

"Midoriya." Aizawa's voice came, stopping the boy in his tracks. Iida and Uraraka looked back.

"Go on, I'll catch up." He said. They went on ahead and Izuku turned to his teacher.

"I thought you should know that both the police and numerous hero agencies are currently investigating the individual you described. Should anything happen, you will be the first one to know. I can tell it's bothering you." Aizawa said.

 _He's...being nice? That's a first…_ Izuku thought,  _Maybe Aizawa cares more than he lets off._

"Okay, umm, thanks." Izuku made to leave, but Aizawa caught his wrist.

"One more thing." Aizawa put a piece of paper in Izuku's hand, "I'm dismissing you for the rest of the day. Go home and get some sleep."

Izuku looked down at the hall pass before shoving it into his pocket, "I think I'm-"

"There isn't an option. I'll walk you out of the front gates myself if I have to. Go. Home." Aizawa said, harsh tone back in his voice.

 _There's the Aizawa we know,_  Izuku thought.

"I'll, uhh, leave then." Izuku nodded and left the classroom, headed for the gates instead of his next class. If there was one thing he had learned from his time at Yuuei, it was that he should be careful to follow teacher orders.

Then again, if  _Aizawa_  was telling him to go home, he probably needed sleep really badly.

As soon as he got home, he crashed on his bed. Surprisingly, he was able to fall asleep relatively quickly before his mind could keep him awake.

* * *

Izuku awoke from his nap at about five in the afternoon, feeling refreshed. He hopped out of his bed to find Riolu still fast asleep on the floor right next to him. With a nudge of his foot, Izuku got the pokemon up, though he was quite reluctant about it.

"C'mon. We're gonna go try one more time before before the end of the assignment period." Izuku said. Riolu groaned, but he got up nevertheless. At least he wasn't lazy ALL the time.

They went on their normal patrolling route, but Izuku wasn't surprised when they didn't find anything. It was just like any other of their days trying. Izuku planted himself on that same bench in the park that he had met Mirio at just the previous day.

"Man so much has happened since then, it doesn't feel like that was yesterday." Izuku breathed out. Riolu nodded in agreement. Izuku tilted his head back, looking up at the sky.

"Guess we'll have to take the hit on this assignment, huh buddy?" Izuku nudged Riolu with his elbow. Riolu just stared down at the ground, defeated.

"At least this way you won't have to share the spotlight with anyone!" Izuku said, trying to cheer up his partner. It must have worked at least a little, since he elicited a chuckle from the pokemon.

They just sat there, on that bench for a few more moments, trying to not get lost in their thoughts. Who knows what Riolu was thinking about, but Izuku's mind was on everything from the previous day.

He was trying to not drown in his own guilt and emotions. Keyword on  _trying_ , since he wasn't very good at it. He knew it was irrational, that he had done the right thing, but every time he thought about what Eri might be going through, he ended up blaming himself. If he had been a  _little_  stronger of will, or if he had been a  _little_  faster to react, she wouldn't have to be going through what she was.

Izuku shook his head, trying to force his mind on something else. So, he decided to go with that Mirio he had met yesterday as well. He had been extraordinarily friendly, but he also had a sort of air to him. The air of someone who was intense but also easygoing. He kind of reminded Izuku of himself.

Izuku was nearly drowning in his thoughts. And when one is drowning, usually someone is there to help pull you out of the deep water.

Luckily, that was the case.

"Mew?"

Izuku's neck shot back to its original position so fast he may have given himself whiplash. Floating on the air right in front of him was the pink pokemon from earlier.

"Mew mew!" It said cheerfully, spinning around like it tended to do.

 _What does it want this time?_  Izuku thought. As if it could read his mind, the pokemon gestured to Izuku and started to float off in one direction. It also happened to be the direction Izuku had to go to get home.

Shrugging, Izuku and Riolu decided to follow.

Instead of staying out in front of Izuku and Riolu, this time the pokemon went directly in line with Izuku, as If it were walking with them, but floating instead.

Izuku couldn't stand the silence, so he did what made the most sense. Or least sense.

"What is your name?" He made small talk. With a pokemon. That couldn't talk.

_People on the street probably can't see it either, so I'm just going to look like an idiot._

"Mew mew!" It responded cheerfully, closing its eyes and smiling.

"If you don't say anything different, then I'm just going to call you 'Mew'."

"Mew!"

"Mew it is then." Izuku said. At least he finally had something to refer to it by other than 'the pink pokemon'. "Say, Mew, why do you keep following me around?"  
The pokemon didn't respond. It just looked Izuku in the eyes and smiled again.

 _Of course it wouldn't respond._ It was a pokemon, after all, and they couldn't talk.

"Is it because you like me?" Izuku ventured to guess. Why else would it stick around?

"Mew mew!" It spun around again, showing its happiness.

_Guess that's a yes then…_

Izuku made small talk the entire way back to his house. Of course, all he was met with was a few 'Mew's or silence, but it was nice. He finally felt like he was getting to get an idea of what the pokemon was.

It was a pokemon. That may sound like a cop out answer, but it's really what it was. It was always playful, messing with him, and acting like, well, a  _pokemon_. There was only one thing left on Izuku's mind, but he couldn't bring himself to ask it.

 _Why did you lead me to Eri?_  The question echoed in his mind, left unspoken.

Eventually they made it back to Izuku's house, and it was nearing the time when Izuku would have to be in bed. He stopped outside his door, expecting for Mew to leave.

It didn't. The second Izuku opened the door, it floated right on inside, inviting itself in.

"Hey! You can't-!" Izuku called out.

"Welcome back, Izuku!" His mom called out. Izuku could already smell the dinner she was cooking from down the stairs.

 _Katsudon, my favorite…_  He ran up the stairs. Sure enough, his nose hadn't lied to him. There it was, in three seperate bowls on the table.

"I made one for Riolu, as well." Riolu seemed excited by that as well, since he excitedly jumped into his seat and began slurping down the meal. Izuku followed suit, sitting down. He glanced over to see Mew going around the room, looking at various objects.

"What are you looking at, Izuku?" His mom asked.

"Oh-nothing…" Izuku turned his attention back to his meal. They ate in relative silence, as they always did. Izuku was washing off his and Riolu's dishes in the sink when Mew found its way to Izuku's room.

"DId you find a pokemon for tomorrow, Izuku?" His mom asked. Izuku looked back and forth between his mom and his room.

"No."

* * *

Mew apparently decided to crash in Izuku's room for the night. It also turns out that it  _doesn't_  float all the time, because it passed out on one of Izuku's pillows on the floor. Izuku had to be careful stepping over it as to not wake it up, not to mention that he did  _not_  want to have a panic attack right now.

He felt more at ease around Mew than he did other pokemon, but it was still a pokemon. If it got within his 'safe bubble', then he freaked out. And if it touched him...well, he didn't need to explain what happened.

Izuku woke up the next morning and went through his normal routine. Mew was still asleep on the pillow when he woke up, but by the time Izuku was out of the shower, it was back to exploring the apartment.

When Izuku left the house to go to school, he wasn't surprised that it followed.

Izuku had to avoid looking at Mew on the train, as he knew that Uraraka was with him and would think something weird about him staring off into space. They got to school as normal, and Mew  _still_  hadn't left.

"Let your pokemon for the assignment out of their ball and bring them to the front of the room. Make a line." Aizawa said. Izuku took a deep breath and stayed seated, ready to take his first failing grade at Yuuei. Looking down the line, Izuku was able to see what other people had caught.

Kirishima had a rockruff, Kaminari had an elekid, Yaoyorozu had a porygon2, and so on and so forth. Izuku, however, was surprised to see Uraraka join the line.

"Uraraka, I thought you were exempt since you already have two pokemon!" Izuku called out. Uraraka turned to him and smiled. In her arms was a small Eevee.

"She was just too cute!" Uraraka protested. Izuku stifled a laugh. Such a Uraraka thing to do. Catch a pokemon just because it was cute.

"Woah! Midoriya, you caught something!?" Kirishima called out, jumping from the line over a line of desks and crouching in front of Izuku.

"No I-" Izuku started.

"Aren't you a cutie? You better evolve into a Flareon! Those are the manliest!" Kirishima reached down and rubbed something.

Izuku leaned over the desk just to see  _What_  he was talking about. He was met with the face of an Eevee.

"Woah!" Izuku jumped back, surprised.

"Are you alright, man?" Kirishima asked, reaching out his hand and patting Izuku's shoulder.

"Yeah I'm-" The Eevee jumped up onto the desk and cooed at Izuku. Only then did Izuku realize what was happening.

Normal Eevee have brown eyes. You could prove that by just looking at Ochako's Eevee across the room. This Eevee had blue eyes. Now, that might not be anything notable in humans, since they have all sorts of eye color. However, that did matter when it came to pokemon. All pokemon have a specific eye color and that doesn't change unless it's an extremely rare shiny form.

Or unless it was transformed.

 _Mew…_  Izuku realized. Mew had come in, transformed into a different pokemon, and was pretending to be the pokemon Izuku caught just to help him out. He owed it a  _huge_  thank you. Now, all he needed to do was fornicate a good lie.

"He's actually one of my mom's old partners." was the first thing Izuku came up with. Luckily, Kirishima and the rest of everyone seemed to go along with it just fine.

Izuku sat through a giant line of congrats that he didn't deserve until he made it to Aizawa.

"So you came through." Aizawa drawled.

"Yeah, I guess." Izuku lied through his teeth. He felt like dirt for it, but it was better than a failing grade.

"You're releasing it after this, aren't you?" Izuku nodded solemnly. Technically it wasn't lying. He'd be letting Mew go to do its own thing again. He just never owned it in the first place.

"Makes no difference to me." AIzawa said, "I told you the assignment, and you met the parameters. Now shoo." Aizawa said. Izuku sighed and went back to his seat. At some point along the way, Mew went back to its original form.

By the end of the homeroom period, it was gone.


	11. The Weekend

**The Weekend**

* * *

 

_ Hey everyone, I’m back again.  I have a quick note before I get into this chapter.  First off, I have started up a new story that I will be updating intermittently between chapters of this fic.  It is a Kimi No Na Wa (Your Name) AU and the first dedicated IzuOcha fic I’ve had in a while, so you should check it out.  It is under my stories/works on my profile. Next, to avoid making this chapter 7k words long, I’ve split up the last scene of this chapter into its own individual chapter that I will be releasing in a few days, and It gets its own chapter because it is super important.  Anyways, hope you enjoy! _

* * *

  
  


_ Izuku was surrounded by darkness.  Looking around, all he could see was black, nothing else but darkness.  There wasn’t any noise, just the dull hum of the space around him. He couldn’t feel anything but the cold touch of the void on his skin. _

_ Then, there was a hint of color in the sea of black.  A white speck in the distance, like a glimmer of hope in this depressing reality.  It grew in size slowly, speck of white taking form in the distance, small head bobbing up and down. _

_ Izuku couldn’t move his body, he was stuck in place as the figure approached.  After a painstakingly long time, Izuku was able to make out who it was running towards him. _

_ Stark white hair,  A pitiful rag of clothing. Bandages covering her legs and arms from head to toe.  A tiny horn on the top of her head. _

_ Eri. _

_ Izuku tried to take a step forwards, but his body wouldn’t move.  He was stuck in place like a spectator. Eri was running towards him, her arms outstretched, just like she had come out of the alleyway. _

_ Izuku tried to reach out, with everything he could, but it proved futile.  No matter what, his arms wouldn’t budge. Izuku was condemned to watch in horror as Eri ran straight through the area where his body should be.  As she passed through him, she dissolved into thin air, becoming white wisps of light in the air. _

_ Izuku tried to scream.  He tried to call out, but nothing came out.  And even if something had, there wouldn’t be anyone to hear him. _

 

* * *

 

“Gah!” Izuku bolted upright in his bed, breathing heavily.  His sudden rise and clatter startled Riolu at the end of the bed, causing the pokemon to nearly jump out of his skin as he clambered to his feet, getting into a fighting stance.

“I-It’s okay Riolu.  There’s nobody here.” Izuku said.  Riolu visibly relaxed, moving from his fighting stance.  Izuku looked down at himself to see his palms clammy, his body covered in sweat.  He was still breathing hard, and his hands were shaking ever so slightly.

_ It’s just a nightmare...It’s just a nightmare. It wasn’t real… _ Izuku repeated to himself in an attempt to calm his nerves.  It only kind of worked. 

“It was just a nightmare.  You can go back to sleep.” Izuku told Riolu, who was still standing up on the floor.  The pokemon just eyed Izuku, giving him an unconvinced look.  _ You don’t look okay. _ It said.Izuku shook his head.

“I swear.  I just need a second to calm down.” Riolu didn’t look totally convinced, but at least he gave up, climbing back onto his spot at the end of the bed.   Izuku looked over at the clock that had permanent residence on his desk.

_ 1:09 am… _ Izuku groaned and laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.  He’d be hard-pressed to be able to get to bed on time, so he decided it would probably just be best to take a break and go get some water, possibly calm himself down from his nightmare.  

Riolu gazed at Izuku as he got out of bed and walked to the door, but to his relief, the pokemon didn’t protest.  The less arguments he could have with the pokemon the better, even if they were well-intentioned and based in his partner’s concern for his health.  

Izuku was able to calm down after a while.  He sat for a few minutes in the living room with a glass of water, drinking the cool liquid.  Eventually, the clammy hands went away and he stopped nervously sweating. He finished his glass of water and made his way back to his room.

He laid down, getting under the covers to try to go back to sleep. 

Yet, every time he found himself dozing off, something in the back of his mind ticked and he was stuck staring at the ceiling once more.

_ I’m never going to be able to fall back to sleep. _ Izuku groaned mentally, reaching for his bedside table.  He fumbled around, nearly knocking his wallet of the stand, but he successfully retrieved his phone.

The second clicked the home screen button, the screen popped open, background of All Might standing out like a beacon in the dark.  It was nearly blinding due to how Izuku’s eyes were adjusted to the dark. Izuku turned down the brightness to where he could actually look at the screen, and was surprised to see a notification.

_ “Hey Deku! I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this weekend! It’s totally fine if you’re busy!”  _ The text from Uraraka said.  The timestamp said it was sent at 8:59 pm the previous day.

_ I must have totally missed the notification! _ Izuku opened the text and started to type out the response.

_ “Sure. I need to get out of the house anyways.”  _ Izuku typed back.  He moved to press send, but his hand stopped a millimeter above the screen.

“What if she’s asleep? What if I wake her up? Should I wait until it’s morning?” The questions weren’t directed at anyone, just said to the open air.  Izuku felt Riolu shuffle around at the end of the bed.

_ There I go, waking him up with my pointless muttering _

Suddenly, a streak of blue came out of the dark and slapped Izuku’s hand lightly, conveniently causing him to his the  _ send _ button.  The text went through before Izuku could even try to stop it.

“Riolu!” Izuku whisper-shouted, “You could’ve woken her up!”  Izuku squinted in the dark, but he  _ swore _ the pokemon just shrugged nonchalantly, curling up again at the end of the bed. Izuku groaned and scrambled to pick up his phone to apologize.

Yet, when he picked it up, he saw the signature three blinking dots signifying that Uraraka was texting back.

“ _ Yay! How does saturday afternoon sound? Also, why are you up this late?”  _

“ _ I was about to ask you the same thing.  You go first.”  _ Izuku typed back. There was a pause before the next message came through.

“ _ Eevee is keeping me up.  She wouldn’t go in her ball so I had to get accustomed to sleeping with her out.”  _ Izuku snorted.

“Welcome to the club.” Izuku said out loud, but didn’t text.

“ _ Anyways, why are  _ YOU _ up this late?”  _

Izuku didn’t respond immediately.  He had to think through what he wanted to say first.  Should he tell her he just got up at such an hour on a whim, or should he tell her the truth?  THe answer made itself apparent pretty quickly.

_ “Nightmare.” _ He typed back simply.

_ “Oh.”  _

_ “I’ll be fine, I just needed a glass of water.”  _ Izuku quickly typed back, not wanting to worry her.

_ “Do you want to talk about it?” _

It was such a simple question, yet it held so much weight.  Not only did she care about him enough to offer to listen to him vent, but she also recognized that he probably needed that help too.

_ “Actually, that would be nice. Can we talk about it tomorrow?” _

* * *

  
  


Izuku was able to get at least a  _ little _ sleep.  It wasn’t a healthy amount, but at least it was  _ something _ .  By the time he got back to bed, it was four or five in the morning, which left him with a extra couple hours of shut-eye. 

When his alarm went off at 7:30, he actually pulled himself out of bed to go on his morning run.  It was a strict training plan that didn’t leave room for any days off, so he couldn’t afford to not work out just because he was feeling down in the dumps.

Riolu cooperated, stretching with Izuku in the living room.  They ate a quick breakfast as they warmed up before saying a quick goodbye to Izuku’s mom and heading out of the room.

Izuku enjoyed his morning runs a lot.  Most of the time he scheduled them for early mornings when he didn’t have to worry about the sun being too hot, and the roads were generally clear so that he could safely run on the sidewalks.  Those weren’t the only reasons, however.

Running let Izuku clear his mind.  He could think about a wide variety of other things as he let his legs go on autopilot and carry him at a constant pace.  Sometimes what he thought about was something stupid, like what he was going to have for dinner Others it was something more important like analyzing a hero encounter.

Today, it was a variety of things.  At first his mind had taken a bad turn, sticking onto the same thing it had been over the last two days (Had it really only been two days?).  No matter how hard he tried, he just could not get the terrible thoughts out of his head. Ever time he closed his eyes he saw Eri jumping out of his arms.  Every time he looked down a alleyway he thought he saw shapes in the darkness, only to figure out it’s his eyes playing tricks on him. He tried to stay away from alleyways.

Thus, he did the one thing that made the most sense.  He distracted himself with something else that no pertinence to the situation that was unnerving him so much.  He thought about his meeting with Uraraka he’d be going to as soon as he was done with his run.

She’d wanted to go on a simple picnic at the park near Izuku’s house for lunch.

“We can let our pokemon out to play while we eat!” She’d said excitedly when they coordinated it.  Just based on the tone of her voice over the phone, Izuku could tell that she was genuinely excited to be meeting with him. 

Izuku couldn’t help but feel a little flustered at the prospect.  It was two high schoolers, alone, in a park, having a picnic. That was cutting it awfully close to the ‘It’s a date!’ line.  

_ Hanging out with a friend is all it is.  That’s all it is. Friends do that, right?  _ Izuku reasoned with himself, trying to keep his face from getting too red.  Maybe the fact that he was already hot and sweaty from running would cover up his blush. He hoped.

The rest of the run was uneventful.  Izuku kept his mind on his meeting with Ochako, opting for embarrassment over the...other thoughts.  Something he did notice, however, was how to clouds seemed to amass over the sky as his run went on, forming a sort of gray barrier in the sky, separating the sun from humanity.

Izuku made it back to his apartment and ran inside, scaring his mother partially as he slammed open the door. 

“Oh-Hey! Izuku!” She said, hand raised to her chest, frightened be his sudden entrance.

“Hey-” Izuku panted, still breathing heavily, “Hey Mom.” 

Izuku jogged around the corner, running into the bathroom and turning on the shower.

“You took longer than usual today, is something wrong?” She asked.  She wasn’t wrong about that. He’d extended his run by a little bit so that he could cut out any of the small side streets or alleyways he used to go down. He had bad experiences with alleyways.  

Not that he could tell her that.

“I just took a scenic route today!” He called, shutting the door to the bathroom.  He didn’t want to delve into too much conversation, so he made the choice to condemn poor Riolu to endless conversation with his mom, as the pokemon was stuck in the living room, alone.

_ This is for all those times that you gave me sass while you were on the computer _ Izuku thought.  He rushed through his shower and got dressed as quickly as possible, not wanting to be late for his meeting with Uraraka.

By the time he got out of the shower, it was already 10:30, and they were supposed to meet at 11 at the park, which was a five minute walk.  Izuku burst out of his room, packing a bag with fruits and vegetables from the fridge, interrupting his very confused mother.

“What are you in such a hurry for, Izuku?” She asked.

“I’m supposed to be meeting a friend for lunch in ten minutes , and it’s a five minute walk!” He slammed the fridge door shut, shoving the bag over his arm and gesturing to Riolu, “Let’s go!”

“Wait, izuku!” His mom called out, catching Izuku right as his hand touched the door handle.

“Have fun.” She said, giving him a huge smile.

_ I’ll try _ he thought.

“I will!” He said.

* * *

 

Izuku sped his way to the park, but it all turned out to be pointless anyways, as he was there before Uraraka.  He walked around a little, searching for a good spot to settle down. There was a park bench not too far off of the main path, but it was already occupied.  

The playground itself was occupied by various children, but Izuku didn’t think that it would be a very optimal place for a picnic, even if it were free.  Then, he turned and saw the perfect location.

An old oak tree stood at the crest of a hill, looking almost like a scene from a movie.  It was old enough that it had a thick trunk and a full canopy, and not old enough that it looked like it was falling apart. Smiling, Izuku jogged over to the location and set down his bag.

He pulled out the plaid white and red tablecloth and set it down right in front of the roots of the tree. Then, he pulled out the bag of food as well as the paper plates he had, setting them down on the ground.

He reached into his bag to check if anything else was-

“Deku!” Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin when Uraraka called his name.

“Oh-hey!” He said, looking up from the bag that was now empty.  He scooted over to give her room to sit down. Uraraka was a dozen or so meters away, but she was walking towards Izuku briskly, holding something in her arms. Only when she got closer did Izuku see that she was carrying Eevee in her arms.

She was cradling it, but not at the same time.  She was supporting the pokemon’s legs and torso, while the little pokemon’s head and upper body was sticking up out of her arms, taking up residence between Uraraka’s arms and head. Its fluffy tail lazily waggled out of her arms.

Uraraka hurried over, taking a seat next to Izuku.  She sat with her legs criss-crossed, Eevee sitting down in the gap between her legs.

“Sorry I was late. I must have misjudged the time it took for the train to get here!” Uraraka said in her usual happy tone.  She even let out a little giggle to go along with it, and Izuku had to suppress a blush.

“It’s alright.  I just got here and set up, anyways.” Izuku said, gesturing to the setup.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Uraraka reached into her bad, pulling out some bread, grapes, and a soda for each of them.  They set to eating the food they brought, making sandwiches with the ingredients Izuku brought and Uraraka’s bread. 

They weren’t talking, and there was a sort of awkward tension filling the air as they ate.  It felt like both of them  _ wanted _ to start a conversation, but neither of them knew  _ how _ .  

_ I mean, what would we even start with? I know she wanted to talk to me but… _ Izuku thought.  It was probably to start off with such a heavy topic.

“So why doesn’t Eevee like her pokeball?” Izuku finally asked between bites.  Uraraka sat up ever so slightly taller, perking up that Izuku finally started a conversation.

“I have no idea.   It’s just that every time I try, she avoids it like the plague.” Uraraka said when she finished chewing.  She looked down at Eevee, petting the pokemon on the head affectionately. Eevee just cooed happily, snuggling up against Uraraka’s hand.

“You two seem to be getting along well.” Izuku noted. Uraraka smiled, nodding.

“She’s so sweet, even if she can be sassy sometimes.  And wake me up in the middle of the night. And not want to go into her pokeball.  Other than that, she’s so cute, don’t you think?” Uraraka ran her hand through Eevee’s fur.

“Riolu gets sassy sometimes too.  It’s kinda irritating, but what can you do, right?” Izuku stopped, “Oh that reminds me. We should probably let our pokemon out.” Izuku opened his pokeball, and out came Riolu. Uraraka did the same, releasing Togekiss and Clefairy from their confinement.

The moment Clefairy was out, she jumped at Uraraka, landing on her chest before climbing onto her shoulder.  Togekiss immediately spread out her wings and stretched, doing a little twirl on one foot. It kind of reminded Izuku of the little spinny circles Mew liked to do from time to time.

Togekiss then looked around, noticing the area around her.  Her face lit up when she saw Izuku and Riolu at the picnic with them.  She happily bounced up and down, waving her wings frantically.

“She’s happy to see you.” Uraraka translated the movements.  Izuku laughed.

“It’s nice to see you, too Togekiss.” Izuku said. The pokemon only jumped up and down happily.  She opened her wings invitingly. Izuku just sadly shook his head.

“No hugs for me today, sorry.” He said nervously.  Togekiss looked down a little, disappointed but not surprised.  Suddenly, a thought came to Izuku’s mind. “...But Riolu wants a big hug.” 

Togekiss’s head snapped up, smile on her happy face once again.  She glided over, taking poor Riolu by surprise as she tackled him into the ground with the fluffiest bear hug in existence. “Kiss!” She said happily as she smothered Riolu.  Izuku could just barely see his partner glaring over Togekiss’s shoulder, staring daggers into Izuku.

Izuku couldn’t help but burst out laughing, and Uraraka joined in a moment later.  The light laughing developed into something heavier when Togekiss released Riolu, who just kinda collapsed onto the ground, properly wrung out.  The laughing devolved more until Uraraka and Izuku were practically rolling on the floor with laughter. 

Eventually, Uraraka and Izuku were able to regain their bearings and stop laughing, though they both had big smiles on their faces.  Riolu, however, was still lying on the ground, beat. Izuku saw some movement out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to see Uraraka whispering to Togekiss, who looked like she was gesturing to Izuku.

“Something wrong?” Izuku asked.  Izuku swore he saw Uraraka’s cheeks flash a slightly brighter pink.

“Oh-Umm-I, uhh…” Uraraka stopped, opting to start again, “Togekiss wanted to get you something.”

“Get...me something?” 

“Yeah, for like, saving us at the entrance exam.  She thought that since she can’t hug you, she should do something else, so she made me go and...well, just take it.” Uraraka stuck out her hand, which held a simple card. Izuku took it, looking it over.  

It was a simple white card with black text on the front that said ‘Thank You’.  Opening it up, something fell out onto Izuku’s lap. Picking it up, he recognized what it was almost immediately.

It was a keychain with a little metal figure of a Riolu hanging off of it.  It was a rather faithful depiction of the pokemon. Smiling, Izuku attached it to his keychain before looking to the rest of the letter. 

_ “Deku, Togekiss and I wanted to thank you for saving us at the entrance exam.  Without you, we probably wouldn’t be going to Yuuei. It’s been really great getting to know you, and you’re definitely our best friend! We owe you one! _

_ It may sound cheesy, but we weren’t sure if we would find friends moving to here from home, but in the end we met you, and now we have a ton of friends!  _

_ Thank you, Deku. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Ochako Uraraka and...”  _ the bottom half of the page was printed pink with what looked like a footprint of a pokemon.  Izuku recognized it as that of Togekiss’s foot. It was the pokemon’s way of ‘signing’ the letter.

It was a short and sweet, but it held so much weight.  Not only had Uraraka been willing to go out and buy him a keychain and thank you note, but she had called him her  _ best friend _ .  Izuku could actually feel tears just under the surface, but he pushed them down.

“Thank you, Uraraka.  Thank you, Togekiss. It really means a lot to me.” Izuku rubbed at his eyes, “I owe you a hug, Togekiss.  Don’t let me forget.”

“Togekiss insisted we should get you something, so that’s what we decided on.  And look!” She pulled out her own keychain to reveal an identical keychain to the one she gifted him, except that instead of an icon of Riolu, it was one of an Eevee.

“They were having a two for one sale!” She said excitedly.  Izuku snickered, barely containing a laugh.

“Are you saying that the only reason you got me a gift was because it was on sale?” Izuku raised an eyebrow teasingly.  Uraraka broke out into a fierce blush, waving her hands out in front of her frantically.

“Oh no! That’s not it, I swear!” 

Izuku shook his head, chuckling, “I’m just messing with you.  Thank you, for real though.” Uraraka just nodded her head. Suddenly, there was movement again, except this time it was coming from Uraraka’s lap.

Eevee had gotten up from her seat in Uraraka’s lap, and was walking.  She came over next to Izuku (But not too close for comfort), and approached Riolu, who was still laying down on the ground, recovering from his traumatic hug experience.  She leaned over, looking down at Riolu, who had his eyes closed.

Eevee tilted her head before leaning over and giving Riolu a light lick on the face. Riolu jumped straight up, scrambling away frantically, looking for signs of danger.

“Eevee!” Uraraka yelped, face a mad red blush, looking horrified.  Eevee ignored her trainer, just sitting down where she was.

“Voy!” She said cheerfully, wagging her tail and looking at Riolu, who only just then seemed to realize he wasn’t in danger.  Riolu walked over cautiously, giving Eevee an odd look. He reached up, wiping the place where Eevee had licked him with his palm.  He suddenly stopped, looking at his palm.

Then, Riolu’s face turned a bright scarlet, and he looked astonished.  Eevee just tilted her head and cooed, walking up to the flustered pokemon.  She got up in Riolu’s face, looking him in the eyes. 

“Voy!” She said cheerfully, jumping up onto all four feet again.  She took a few steps back before running straight at Riolu, who narrowly jumped out of the way before Eevee tumbled through the area where he had been moments before.  Eevee rolled over, skidding to a stop before taking off right at Riolu again, who narrowly dodged.

Riolu looked to Izuku for help between dodges, obviously confused as to what was going on.  Izuku laughed at his partner’s obliviousness.

“I think she wants to play, buddy.  Why don’t you and the rest of the pokemon go run off some energy?” Izuku suggested.  Togekiss certainly liked the idea, as the moment the words were out of Izuku’s mouth, she jumped up from her spot next to Uraraka.  Clefairy jumped onto her back and she took off, going to the open field space next to the group.

Eevee ran down the hill, chasing after the two.  Riolu paused for a moment, looking over to Izuku as if he were asking permission. 

Izuku smiled, “Go have some fun.” He said.  Riolu didn’t wait a moment longer to take off down the hill.  Uraraka next to him laughed out loud. Izuku looked over, and the blush on her face from earlier was gone.

Awkward tension fell down on their conversation.  Neither of them wanted to speak, to be the one to initiate the conversation they both needed to happen.  Yet, in the end it was important, so someone had to speak up.

“So…” Izuku prompted.

“You haven't been sleeping well?” Uraraka stated the obvious.  Izuku just shook his head. Hey sat in silence for a few more moments, neither opting to speak.  

Uraraka cleared her throat, “Is it because of worrying about people at school, or…?” Izuku shook his head.

“I think I’ve accepted that the people at school aren’t like the people at my middle school. No, this is something completely different.” Izuku slumped back, laying down.  It was not a conversation he  _ wanted _ to have, but he knew it was a conversation he knew he  _ needed _ to have, and who better to have it with than his best friend, right?

“Is it the nightmare?” 

“It’s more than that, I think.  I just...ugh I don’t know how to say it without giving you context and if I give you context then I could be possibly putting you in danger and I don’t want to do that to you, but I also don’t want to lie to you and-” Izuku started a muttering spree.

“Deku, it’s alright.” Uraraka tried.

“-and every time I think about it, I can’t stop thinking about  _ her _ .  Every time I close my eyes, I see  _ her _ . It’s like the guilt is hanging over my shoulder, and I just can’t  _ do anything about it!” _

“Deku, calm down.”  It was pointless

“I couldn’t do anything! I made the best choice based on my situation, but I still can’t stop beating myself up for it. I just can’t! Who knows what they’re doing to her? All because I couldn’t just hold on!” 

Uraraka decided it was futile trying to get through to him with words.  Instead, she reached out and put her hand on Izuku’s shoulder. Suddenly, he stopped mid sentence, turning to look at Uraraka.  

He looked like a mess.  He was crying now, tears running down his cheeks uncontrollably.  His eyes were glazed over and he had a look of mild shock on his face, like he was only just realizing Uraraka was there listening to him.

“I’m-I’m sorry.  I’ll just-” Izuku tried to stand up, wanting to eject himself from the situation.  To remove himself to wallow once again in his misery. Yet, there was an iron grip around his arm, keeping him anchored, both physically and mentally.

“Deku, please.  I’m here to help, don’t just run away.” Uraraka pleaded.  She looked like she was sad, probably for him. 

_ Get away, get away, get away.  You don’t deserve to have a friend like her _ The back of his mind told him.  Every fiber of his being just wanted to leave and deal with his problems on his own and not burden his friend with them. 

Every fiber except for the part of his arm that she was still gripping.  That hand was his anchor point, keeping him from floating away. Izuku’s legs gave out under him and he fell into a sitting position on the ground, slouching.

“I guess I should start from the beginning.” Izuku said.  Part of his mind was telling him that he needed to leave, but the logical part of his mind was finally gaining some control.  He knew that it would be a good idea to let it all out.

Izuku told the story of what had happened two days prior.  He started from when he left school to go looking for pokemon all the way up until he met Eri.  He had to take a break halfway through to gather his thoughts, but Uraraka had stayed completely respectful the whole time, leaving her hand gripping his arm, which helped. He finished the story, making special note to exclude Mew from the details, making up excuses in its stead.

Then, he described the problems he’d been having dealing with the guilt.  He told her about how he couldn’t stop thinking about it and how it was beginning to affect his health, as evidenced by his nightmare.  When he finished, Uraraka nodded to him, and she looked like she was on the verge of crying, herself.

“I’m probably not the best person to talk to you about this type of thing, but I’m going to give it a shot.” Uraraka said after a long while of silence, “What you’ve gone through in the last two days is probably more than what the entirety of our class has had to go through in their entire lives.”

Uraraka continued, “I can’t tell you anything you haven’t already told yourself.  ‘It’s not your fault’ and ‘that’s horrible that happened to you!’ won’t help you, just based on what you’ve told me.  There is something I can tell you, and it’s the best advice I can offer you.” 

“What’s that?” Izuku whispered softly.

“Get help.” 

Izuku nearly did a double take at how blatant the statement was.

“You’re trying to fight this all on your own, and you can’t do that anymore, you just can’t.” Uraraka explained, “There are so many people that are willing to help you.  Your friends, your family, even the support systems at school! There’s so much help you can get to deal with these issues, but you can’t just close yourself off and try to take it on your own.” 

Izuku didn’t know what to say.  Deep down, he probably knew all of what Uraraka was saying, but what made the difference was hearing it out loud.  Getting called out on his terrible coping mechanisms seemed to shed light on how unhealthy he was being.

“I’m sorry…” He muttered.

“...Sorry?” 

“I’m sorry for being so dumb.  I’ve been so stupid with this whole situation.  The first thing I should have done was get help from the school, but I chose to bottle it up.  So I’m sorry, and thank you.” Izuku explained.

Uraraka let go of Izuku’s arms, and he didn’t feel like he was slipping away.  He was grounded again. “No need to thank me! That’s what friends do, right?”

Izuku laughed.  By now it was practically a catchphrase of hers, every time she helped him out of a tough spot, which was all too often. “Thank you anyways.”

“Oh, it’s raining!” Uraraka said, instantly distracted and pointing away from them.  Izuku turned his head, and sure enough, it was raining. The raindrops were small and far between at first, but as Izuku looked out at the rest of the park, it started to pick up.  It wasn’t long before it was full blown raining, Izuku and Uraraka only safe by the tree shielding them.

“Here they come!” Uraraka giggled, pointing to their pokemon who were all running in from the field where they’d been playing, trying to stay dry to no avail.  The scrambled under the tree, all barely fitting onto the tablecloth Izuku brought for the picnic.

“Riolu, you’re wet.” Izuku said.  The pokemon just shrugged, unphased.

“Eevee, your fur is soaked!” Uraraka said, more concerned than Izuku had been.  Eevee seemed to be in a similar state, obviously distraught at her ruined fur coat.  Uraraka was using a corner of the tablecloth to try to dry her off as much as possible, all while the little fox pokemon was shaking vigorously to get try.  All that accomplished was making her fur a lot more poofy, causing her to look like a little brown puffball.

“I’ll just do it again when we get home.” Uraraka said, giving up.  The entire situation was hilarious to Izuku, who couldn’t contain his laughter.  He sat there, laughing at his friend and pokemon, waiting for the rain to let up so that he could get home.

And that was perfectly fine by him.

  
  



	12. The Next Step

**The Next Step**

 

_ Here is the special scene I mentioned in the last chapter.  Sorry for the shortness, but it’s important nonetheless. Enjoy! _

_ P.S. I quoted my favorite quote from my favorite book from my favorite author in this chapter, and it fits extraordinarily well.  _

* * *

 

Izuku walked Uraraka home after the rain let up, despite her insistence that she would be fine.  Izuku refused to give in, going to the point of walking ahead of her in the direction that he knew her house was.  

Izuku wanted to walk her back for more than one reason.  Not only did it feel like a thing a friend would do, but Izuku also wanted to spend more time with Uraraka.  She was his friend, and somehow had a knack for making him feel better. Every time he was around her, he just felt a little more at ease than he typically did.

Not only that, but he made a decision.  He was going to act on the advice Uraraka had given him.  He was going to search out help for the problems he’d been facing.  If she was right about anything, it was the fact that this was the sort of thing Izuku couldn’t tackle alone.  He couldn’t just shove his problems under the rug, expecting to deal with them himself anymore.

As to why that pertained to walking Uraraka home, well, Izuku knew from experience that her apartment was on the way to the one he knew he had to go to.  So, Izuku dropped Uraraka off at her apartment, and instead of heading towards the train station to go back home, he walked the opposite direction.

* * *

 

Toshinori lounged back in his recliner, once again thankful for the small amount of freetime he got.  Maybe he could finally catch up on that show he had wanted to before, up until when Midoriya interrupted him with the urgent call two days previous.

Toshinori laid back, sinking into the soft cushion of the chair as much as possible and lifting up the remote to unpause the TV.  The show was a rather unique detective show starring a sociopathic main character and his war-veteran sidekick. It was a British show, so the words were all in english, contrary to most of the shows that aired in Japan.  Toshinori was originally from America, though, so watching a show in his native language was a relief for once.

Somewhere in the apartment Lucario was relaxing as well, probably on the computer in the study room.  Milotic was curled up in the a corner like an overgrown snake, enjoying irs time out of the pokeball. Braviary was currently out of the house, exploring the skies.

Overall, it was a peaceful ordeal.  The first time in a very long time Toshinori had gotten to really sit down and  _ take a break _ .  All that was left was for Toshinori to-

_ Ding dong! _ The doorbell chimed.  

“Really?” Toshinori groaned, pulling the handle on the recliner to get out of his comfy palace.  He hobbled over to the door, reaching for the handle. He was expecting it to be some door to door salesman that didn’t read the ‘No Soliciting’ sign on his door.  At least he didn’t have to worry about them knowing who Toshinori really was.

He pulled the handle, and the door swung open to reveal…

“All Might!” Midoriya’s voice came out, loud as normal, drawing the attention of everyone on the street. Toshinori coughed in surprise, spitting up a little blood in the process.  Of all the things he expected to see at his door, Izuku Midoriya was not very high on the list.

“Midoriya, my boy, what are you doing here?” Toshinori said softly, not wanting to draw attention, “You know what, hold on that.  Get inside for now.” Toshinori ushered Midoriya inside the small little apartment, shutting the door behind him.

* * *

 

Izuku sat on All Might’s sofa, nervously sipping his green tea the man had made him.  All Might was currently moving around in his kitchen, putting away the materials he had used to make the tea.  All Might eventually stopped the clamoring around and came around the sofa, taking the seat across the coffee table from Izuku.

“Don’t take this as me being unhappy to see you,” All Might started, “But what are you doing at my apartment?” All Might raised an eyebrow.  Izuku scratched at his hair nervously, shying away from the older man’s gaze.

“I, umm, I got some advice from a good friend that I wanted to follow up on.” Izuku said.  He was about to start a conversation he didn’t want to have, yet he knew he needed to have.

“Was it young Uraraka?” That question came out of left field.  Of all the things Izuku expected to hear out of his mentor’s mouth, that was not of them.  All Might continued, “I’ve noticed you two are rather close friends.”

Izuku felt his face go hot.  He probably looked like a strawberry between how pink his face probably was and his green hair on top of his head.  Izuku frantically waved his hands in front of him. 

“T-That’s not it! I swear!” All Might just leaned back in his chair, booming with laughter louder than a man that looked like he did should.  Even though he was in his powered down form, he still held the voice that his muscular form had.

“Don’t worry, my boy, I am just trying to break the tension.  You look really strung up.” 

Izuku’s expression darkened slightly. “Yeah…about that.”  All Might stayed silent for a few moments, and the air seemed to get heavier, slightly weighing down on the two of them as the elephant in the room went unaddressed.

“Are the events of the last few days still bugging you?” Izuku gulped, nodding softly.  All Might gave him the look as if to prompt Izuku to begin speaking when he was ready. 

Izuku thought about what he was going to say over and over inside his head, wanting to make how he felt.be vocalized.  He wanted to make everything he’d been struggling with recently obvious in one simple sentence. 

Yet, when Izuku opened his mouth to speak, something completely different came out.

“How do you do it?” His voice was soft, barely audible.  He managed to keep the shaking out of it, though it took a lot of effort.

“I’m sorry?” All Might leaned in a little closer.

“How do you do it? How do you save everyone?” All Might heard that time.  He leaned back in his chair again, sipping on his tea. Izuku was barely keeping himself together at this point.

“I don’t.” 

Izuku’s head snapped up from where it had been, eyes lingering on his tea cup.  He was now looking at All Might in confusion.

“I don’t. I can’t save everyone.” All Might said.

“What do you mean you don’t? You’re All Might!” Izuku protested.

“And even I’m not perfect.  There have been people I can’t save, Midoriya my boy.” 

“B-but then how-? How do you do it?” Izuku stuttered.  He was flabbergasted by the entire situation. 

“Do what?”  
Izuku took a deep breath. “Every time I close my eyes, I see Eri jumping out of my arms.  Every time I get a spare moment, I think about what they could be doing to her and how It’s all my fault.  How do you not-”

“Who ever said I don’t?” All Might cut Izuku off again, surprising him once more. Izuku was to the point where he couldn’t even form a coherent sentence.  All of his self pity was being completely ignored as his attention was sucked up by All Might’s words.

“Sometimes when I go to sleep at night, I’m kept up by scenes like those.  I’ve been a hero for years, so there’s years worth of people that I haven’t been able to save. A man crushed by a falling building I couldn’t get to in time. A woman mugged in an alleyway.  So many people that I can remember distinctly.” 

“How do you-” All Might raised a finger, cutting Izuku off once again.

“I’m getting there.” Izuku shyed back, looking sheepish, “Every time that happens, I remind myself of a few words.  A few words that have carried me my entire life. Every time I see those images in my head, I think about these words and instead of setting me back, those memories push me forwards.” All Might paused.  The emotion in his voice was accumulating, he was starting to seem even more intense.

“Those words were, ‘The most important step a man can take.  It’s not the first one, is it? It’s the next one. Always the next step’” All Might paused for effect, letting the words sink in.

“It’s always the next step, Midoriya my boy.  You can’t change the past, no matter how hard you want to.  You can’t go back to that alleyway and change what you did, so you shouldn’t linger on the things you  _ could have  _ done, and think about the things you  _ can  _ do.” All Might put his mug down on the coffee table, tea splashing out of it.  He stood up out of his chair.

“It’s about the next step.  You close your eyes and you see that little girl? Make a promise to her that you will be there to save her.  Don’t think  _ I could have _ .  Just take the next step.  When you get put down by those memories, stand up straighter than ever and sat  **_I’ll do better next time._ ** ” All Might transformed into his muscular form, pointing at Izuku with a massive tree trunk of an arm.  

“Take the next step, my boy.  Pick yourself and  _ do better _ .” All Might transformed back to his skinny form and sat back down on the chair.  He used a napkin to wipe up the spilled tea. 

Izuku was speechless.  The words that had come out of All Might’s mout just then, Izuku knew, deep down, that those were the words he  _ needed _ to hear. He felt the tears brimming at his eyes.

“Thank you, All Might.  I’ll try my best!” All Might shook his head.

“Do not try.  Take the step.” Izuku stared into his mentor’s eyes, and he saw two prominent emotions reflected back at him. Passion and...something else.  Pride. Izuku steeled himself, jumping to his feet.

For the first time in a while, outside of his time with Uraraka, he smiled.  A genuine, determined smile.

“I’m going to take the next step.” 

Izuku finished his tea and talked over a few more things with All Might, though none of them were as serious as the thing just discussed. 

When It was finally time for Izuku to leave, he waved goodbye to All Might and his pokemon, taking the step to the door.  He opened it and across the street he saw a dark alleyway.

When he closed his eyes, he could see Eri, small and afraid, holding the hand of the man with the bird mask.  When he opened his eyes, they weren’t there.

_ I’m going to save you.  No matter what it takes. _

Izuku took the step out of All Might’s apartment.


	13. The USJ

 

**The USJ**

 

_ Sorry I took so long to make this update, everyone.  I got distracted really badly by the new destiny 2 expansion and the grind in competitive.  Good news is I got the Luna’s Howl, for anyone that knows what that is. I did update my Your Name fic twice in the downtime, though, so in case you missed that, It’s still coming along. Anyways, here comes this chapter, I hope you enjoy. _

 

* * *

 

Izuku woke up with a jolt for the third night in a row, and he startled Riolu in the process.  The pokemon was used to Izuku’s night frights by now, so he didn’t instantly get defensive anymore like he used to. He just sat up and looked around, finding Izuku.  

Izuku could feel his palms teeming with sweat, and his hair was a mess.  Despite the sweat, he still felt slightly cold, so he bundled up under the covers.   He didn’t even know what the nightmare was this time. He couldn’t remember it.

And that was fine, because he didn’t  _ need _ to remember it.  All Might’s words echoed in Izuku’s mind. 

“Take the next step.” Izuku mumbled, “Do better next time.” He told himself, clenching his fists.  It was hard to not feel that constant guilt hanging over his head, but  _ damn _ he was trying.  Every time his mind started to play tricks on him, he didn’t let it pull him down.  He let it push him up.

_ Eri needs me.  I need to fight on, for her sake _ Izuku told himself.  He got up out of his bed and went to go get a drink of water.  It usually helped with not only cooling his mind down, but also his body.  When he woke up from a nightmare, he was always sweating uncontrollably. 

Izuku looked at the time on the kitchen oven.

_ Only four o’clock?  _ It was an hour and a half before he’d normally get up to run before school anyways, so waking up a little early wasn’t that bad, all things considered.   Izuku walked back to his room and sat down on his desk in front of his computer. 

He pulled up news articles of hero fights from the last few days, taking down notes to pass the time.  He probably should be focusing on how to make his  _ own _ battle style  with Riolu work better, but some things never change.  It wasn’t all bad, since Izuku was able to pick up on a few tricks that the heroes used in battle that he could possibly employ in his own scenarios. 

Things went on like that for some time, Izuku immersing himself in the videos, scrutinizing every little detail, until Izuku felt a tug on his arm.  Pausing the video, he tore his eyes away from the screen to see Riolu’s paw on his hand. Riolu yawned, rubbing his eyes with the paw not on Izuku’s hand.

“Oh sorry, buddy.” Izuku said, “I forgot that you were here.” 

Riolu grunted lightly, just moving into a sitting position.  Izuku was on the rackety wooden chair while Riolu slumped lightly on the ground, leaning against the side.  It couldn’t be that comfortable, but Riolu seemed to be fine.

Izuku pushed play on the video again, but this one was without sound.  It was a battle between Kamui Woods’ Trevanant and some villain’s persian. The villain had robbed a nearby atm and was trying to make off with the money.  

Izuku watched as Kamui vaulted himself off of a crate, landing on the roofs of the small shopping strip that he was pursuing the villain down, his Trevanant scuttling along on the ground level.  Luckily pedestrians parted the tide in order for the chase to take place. 

Kamui caught sight of the villain and his persian, and Izuku saw his mouth move, giving his pokemon a command.  The area around Trevanant glowed a dark green, as well as the ground surrounding the villain. Suddenly, dark brown tree roots sprang up from the ground, grabbing ahold of the villain and his pokemon, immobilizing them completely. That was the end of the video.

“That must have been either frenzy plant or forest’s curse.  More likely that it was forest’s curse, as that is a move exclusive to trevenant.” Izuku mumbled, jotting the notes down in his notebook.  He moved to click on the next video, but stopped in his tracks.

There wasn’t another video. He had exhausted his entire stache, and it was only five o’clock.  Izuku leaned back in the chair, baffled that he’d been able to get through so many videos in just an hour’s time.  

“Well, what are we going to do for another hour?” Izuku asked Riolu.  He felt the body next to the chair move slightly, and he assumed it was a shrug.

“Riolu.” Riolu yawned lightly, using the floor to push himself off the ground.  He stretched, working his sleepy muscles to the waking world.

“Ready for today?” Izuku finally asked. If he was gonna have to waste some time, may as well make some small talk.  Riolu just tilted his head in confusion.

“The field trip.” Izuku clarified.  Riolu tilted his head back and nodding, understanding what Izuku was referring to. He tilted his head, bringing a paw up to his chin, clearly thinking.  Eventually, he just shrugged.

“Yeah, me too.”  Just another day at Yuuei, a mix of constant anxiety and excitedness.  Izuku tried to bring up a few more topics, but small talk was hard when only one of the two parties could speak.  Not only that, but Izuku and Riolu had exhausted nearly every topic there  _ was _ to talk about over the last year.

Eventually, Izuku stood up and stretched his legs as well.  He got dressed in his normal running clothes. It was only five fifteen, but they could go a little early.  Riolu stretched once again with Izuku, and soon enough they set off through the door.

* * *

  
  


When Izuku met Uraraka at the station, he couldn’t tell if she was shaking from anxiety or anticipation.  Possibly both. They walked to the school, making small talk along the way, most of it lighthearted.

“Eevee was super unhappy that she was soaked!’ Uraraka exclaimed, “She acted like a brat the entire rest of the night.”  Eevee, who was ever present in Uraraka’s arms, squirmed in protest.

“Don’t give me that!  You SO acted like a brat!” Uraraka scolded.  Izuku stifled a laugh. The entire situation was just too funny not to.

“Anyways,” Uraraka turned her head to Izuku, “Did you follow up on anything yesterday?” 

Izuku took a moment to respond, but he slowly nodded.

“I did just what you said I should do.  I...got help. It wasn’t easy, but I really think it helped. I know what I have to do now.” Izuku steeled himself.  Eri was waiting for him.

“So poetic!” Uraraka chirped, eliciting a blush from Izuku. It was Uraraka’s turn to laugh.

“You’re always so serious, Deku! Lighten up a little! It’s field trip day!” She punched him lightly on the shoulder with the hand that wasn’t holding Eevee.  That shaking earlier was  _ definitely _ from excitement.  Izuku smiled back.

“It is pretty exciting, huh? I just can’t wait to finally get started on some more hero work!” Uraraka pumped her fist in the air. Izuku nodded in agreement.

“I’m interested to see where we are actually going today.  Aizawa was very secretive about the destination .” Izuku noted. THey continued the walk to the school.

Once they got to the classroom, Izuku noticed that the same air of anticipation that shad surrounded Uraraka that morning was filling the entire room.  Everyone seemed like they were excited for the field trip. Even  _ Bakugo _ looked a little giddy.

“Maybe we’re going to a hero agency for a tour!” Kirishima exclaimed, “If we do, I hope we go to Fatgum’s agency.  The dude is so manly!” Izuku snickered slightly at that. Kirishima was always so peppy and hyped up over ‘manly’ things.

“I hope that we get to see heroes in action! I could use some battling tips…” Uraraka said, still holding Eevee in her arms.  That pokemon must  _ really _ hate the pokeball if Uraraka is willing to carry it around all the time.

Izuku was about to open his mouth to give some input when he was torn from his thoughts by the sound of the door slamming open.

“Everyone shut up and get in your seats.” Aizawa said.  The entire class knew better now than they did at the beginning of the semester, all choosing to make a mad dash to their seats.

Aizawa scanned the room and grunted, “A few seconds faster than last week, but still not good.  Get better and quicker.” the class stayed silent at this criticism. Aizawa walked up to the podium and set his things down.

“Today, as many of you know, is our field trip.  If you didn’t know, then start paying more attention in class.  Now, I don’t want to be here all day, so everyone get changed into your hero costumes and meet me outside.  The bus will be waiting.” The class sprung into action at his words, scrambling to the side of the room to grab their costume briefcase and leaving to go get changed.

Izuku made his way to the front of the room cautiously. “Sir, I-”

“Your costume was ruined in the battle training.  That’s your fault, so it’s up to you to get a new one made by the support department.” He paused, reaching down behind the podium and throwing a blue bundle at Izuku, “For now use this.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Izuku bowed.  The thing AIzawa had thrown at him was one of the blue jumpsuits that they’d been required to wear on the first day for their fitness assessment.  

“Go.” Aizawa said sternly, pointing to the door.  Izuku scrambled to catch up with his classmates.

* * *

  
  


Izuku felt out of place in his simple attire compared to the others’ as he loaded onto the bus. Everyone had their costumes on, with their belts full of slots for pokeballs, healing items, support items, and the like.  Meanwhile, Izuku just wore a simple blue jumpsuit with a slot on his hip for Riolu’s pokeball. Nothing more.

He stepped onto the bus to see that it was one of the luxury ones.  It had the comfy seats, more than enough seating for everyone, even armrests on each individual seat.  Izuku walked the aisles, looking for a seat to-

“Hey Midoriya! Come sit with us!” A familiar loud voice called from halfway down the bus. Izuku looked up and found that the voice belonged to Kirishima.  He was waving with one hand while pointing to the seat across from him with his other.

Izuku sat himself down on the seat.  Next to him was the girl with dark green hair that he’d seen fight against Kaminari and Jirou in the battle trial, Tsuyu Asui.  Across the aisle were Kirishima and Uraraka.

“Hello, Midoriya.” Tsuyu said, offering an abnormally large hand to shake.

“O-oh hi, Asui.” Izuku responded, taking her hand.  Her hand was bigger than  _ Izuku’s _ and by a significant margin, too. 

“Call me Tsu.” She said blatantly.

“Oh, okay, Tsu.” Izuku corrected himself.

“Aren’t you guys excited? It’s our first hero related field trip!” Kirishima said, pumping his fist in the air.

“I’m so ready!” Uraraka said from next to him, pumping a fist in the air similarly. 

“How about we introduce ourselves a little better? I know we’ve met and all, but I haven’t really gotten to know all of you yet.” Kirishima suggested. Suddenly, the seats in front of Izuku moved around.

“Let me in on this, too! I’ll go first!” The girl said, “My name is Mina Ashido! I’m super outgoing and I love basically everything! I have a skin condition that makes my skin super sensitive to light, so I basically always have pink skin!” Izuku recognized Mina, as he’d seen her a few times in class.  He’d missed her battle trial, but he also knew her from the fitness test on the first day.

“You have a goomy, right?” Izuku couldn’t remember quite properly.

“My partner is a Sliggoo, but close enough! “ Mina not only had a loud voice, but also a loud personality. 

“I shall go next, moiseur!” The boy sitting next to Mina said, spinning around in his seat.  His hero costume was nothing short of ridiculous. He looked like a medieval knight in shining armor if that amor was covered in glitter and as bright of polish as humanly possible.  The shoulders, knees, and elbows seemed like they had laser lenses on them.

“I destroy the villains with the power of my fabulous beam attacks!  My Persian and Clawitzer have style like no other! My name is Yuga Aoyama!” 

Nobody said anything after Aoyama introduced himself.  Not because they were stunned, but more because they didn’t know what to say to such an introduction.

“Moving on…I’m Ejirou Kirishima.  My partner Boldore and I are tougher than rock, and love  _ anything  _ that’s manly. The manlier the better! Show off that power!” Kirishima emphasized his point by flexing.

“I’m Tsuyu Asui, but call me Tsu.  I say things that come to my mind. I’ve been told I have no filter.” Tsu tilted her head, “Something I’ve noticed, now that I have you here Midoriya, what kind of move did Riolu use during the battle trial?” 

Izuku’s mind went blank.  He was too caught up in other issues to even begin to think about what he should say in this type of situation.  He ran through a list of learnable moves by Riolu, and none of them could explain away that raw, unfiltered power.

“I-uhh, I’m-I, he…” Izuku stammered.

“Come to think of it, Riolu is the pre-evolution of Lucario, right? All Might’s Lucario throws some massive power around, too.  Maybe it has something to do with an ability?” 

“Or maybe it was just some kind of last resort type thing.” Uraraka suggested.  Izuku was still stuttering to come up with an answer. He couldn’t say it was a move, because none of the moves Riolu got even came near to that level of power, and Riolu’s abilities were normally nothing to look at.   _ Technically _ One for All was an ability, albeit a very special one.

“So, what is it, Midoriya?” Kirishima egged on.

“It-It’s…-”

“We’re here.” Aizawa’s voice droned from the front of the bus.

_ Thank god _ Izuku thought as all of is classmates’ attention was drawn to the front.  Looking out the window, Izuku could see a giant dome. There was a set of giant doors on the front of this enclosed dome with three giant letters engraved on it.

“USJ” Izuku read out.  It was obviously an acronym.

“Get up and follow me.” Aizawa said, stepping off of the bus.  Everyone scrambled to follow.

* * *

  
  


The walk inside was short but awkward.  Everyone was silently anticipating what was awaiting them inside of the building.  Aizawa walked up to the giant doors and scanned his Yuuei teacher ID. The doors swung open automatically.

The inside was a sight to behold.  

Six different areas, each taking up a sixth of the massive circle, like pieces of pie, save for the circle in the middle that marked the center, topped off with a fountain.  There was a boat in the center of a small lake, a red dome that had the hint of fire emanating from within. A blue dome with nothing but darkness on the inside, a broken down and destroyed set of buildings, a side of a mountain that looked like a landslide had plowed through it, and finally, a small mountain area surrounded by trees.

Izuku’s mouth dropped as he realized what each separate section represented.

“Welcome, to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short!” a voice that we decidedly not Aizawa called out.  It was more robotic, like the person was speaking through a mic and it was being amplified. Izuku’s head snapped off of viewing the other sections of the USJ to listen to the new person.  As he turned his head, his jaw dropped.

“The Space Hero, Thirteen!” the excitement in her voice was immense.  She had been so excited that she’d beaten  _ Izuku _ to the chase on identifying the hero, “I’m your biggest fan!”  She called out.

Izuku looked over and saw Uraraka bouncing up and down lightly on her heels.  The look of absolute glee on her face was infectious.

Thirteen had a very interesting hero costume.  Their entire body was encased in a modern-looking spacesuit, while their feet, long and skinny, were housed in simple sneakers.  They didn’t look like much, but Izuku knew better than that. Standing next to Thirteen was their signature partner, a gardevoir. 

“Today, you will all be doing rescue drills.  As you can see, around you there are six separate zones, each having their own respective type of rescue that you may have to face while working as a hero.  Today is to prepare you for those situations.” 

Izuku watched Aizawa walk away from the group, coming up to Thirteen and whispering something in their ear.  Izuku strained to listen, but couldn’t hear anything over the chatter of his classmates. All he gleaned from the situation was Thirteen putting up three fingers, and at that, Aizawa seemed to understand.

“Before we get into today’s lesson, there is one major thing I must go over.” Thirteen gestured to their Gardevoir standing next to them, “If you all would let out your partner pokemon, that would be fantastic.” 

Everyone in the class obliged, and the air filled with the sound of pokeballs popping open.  The free space between people suddenly vanished as everyone’s pokemon took up the spots. Riolu popped out of his pokeball and stretched his arms and legs, taking up a spot on Izuku’s right side. 

“As some of you may know, I am primarily a rescue hero, though I  _ do _ know how to fight a little. There is one thing that I’ve noticed over my years being a hero.”  They paused for dramatic effect, “Pokemon are  _ extremely  _ dangerous. Take my gardevoir for example.  Gardevoir have the special ability to create miniature black holes that suck in objects and turn them into dust.  This is a double edged sword.

“While it can be useful for rescue situations by clearing away rubble easily, it is also potentially dangerous.  If someone or some pokemon is sucked in by these black holes...well, I don’t need to say the rest.” 

There was a collective shudder from the group as everyone thought about what Thirteen was insinuating.  

“So, today, part of the exercise will be to grow more cautious with the use of pokemon for-”

_ Whhoooosssshhhhh _ Thirteen was cut off by the sound of the air splitting apart.

* * *

 

Shouta glanced over the various sections of the USJ as Thirteen gave their speech on the importance of control in rescue operations.  It was something that seemed intuitive, yet they still seemed to have at least  _ one _ problem with it each year.

Then again, Aizawa usually had to expel three students in the first week for showing no promise.  This was the first group to not have  _ anyone _ be expelled, so perhaps there wouldn’t be any unforeseen accidents this year.

Perhaps.

Shouta vaguely listened to the conversation going on behind him while also enveloping himself in his own thoughts.   First and foremost was the fact that All Might had somehow managed to run out on his time limit  _ on the way to school _ .  How many stops would you have to make in order to turn a twenty minute walk into  _ three hours _ ? Aizawa shook his head disapprovingly. The man was sometimes to virtuous for his own good.

Maybe if-

Shouta’s thoughts were cut off by the sound of the fabrics of reality itself splitting.  His head snapped up and he saw the source of the noise. 

A giant wall of swirling purple mist had appeared out of nowhere, swirling mysteriously for a moment.  Soon enough, the fog started to part.

And people stepped out of the mist. 

First up was a man clad in a black shirt and pants, covered from head to toe in gray, severed hands.  They didn’t look to be real, at least, Shouta hoped they weren’t real. He was followed soon by a man in a simple suit, similar to what one would see a bartender wear, and then, a massive  _ monster _ .

It looked like something from a nightmare.  A science experiment gone wrong. It was a pokemon, but Shouta had never seen such a horrifying amalgamation in his life.  It had the extremely muscular body of a Machamp, the head looked like if someone had forced the beak of a honchkrow onto the Machamp’s face.  The worst part of the head, however, was the fact that the entire top portion of the pokemon’s head had been sliced off, exposing its brain. The body was an off-color as well, taking on a dark navy blue instead of the normal light blue of machamp.

Finally, there was the rest of the subtleties of the monster that almost made Shouta sick.  It had hints of a what looked like a Conkeldurr’s arms, parts of the shell of a Blastoise, and a few other minor hints of other pokemon.  To top it all off, it had weird markings all over its body.

After the first three came through the mist, then the entire mass of purple mist parted way and person after person stepped through.  They didn’t stop coming. It had to be in the hundreds.

“Is that part of the exercise?” Shouta heard a student ask, the noise tearing him from his shock.  He had a job to do.

“Those are villains!  Thirteen, get the students out of here, I’ll hold them off!” Shouta threw his one main pokeball into the air, simultaneously grabbing the binding cloth around his neck.

“Darkrai, let’s go!” Shouta called, running down the steps to meet the horde of villains. 

Izuku felt the words to tell his teacher that he couldn’t take them all alone on the tip of his tongue. Yet, he stopped himself.  Aizawa was a pro hero, and he was making the decision that he thought best, and Izuku should trust it. For now he should just focus on getting out with the rest of his classmates.

“Everyone, get out the door and load the buses as fast as possible.  I’ll try to contact the school.” Thirteen instructed, ushering everyone towards the door.  Everyone started to move, but was once again stopped in their tracks by the sound of the air itself splitting and purple mist filled the area.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that.  I have specific instructions to not let you leave.” a man’s voice said.  Coming out of the purple mist was the same man in the suit. Standing at his feet was a pokemon made of the purple mist that was around the area, except that it seemed to me emanating from a small, odd looking stone. 

“A Spiritomb…” Izuku breathed, recognizing the pokemon. “Everyone, Spiritomb has the ability to create portals with its mist! Watch out!” Izuku called out to the group.  Not only was it research proven, but it also now made sense has to how he had been teleporting around like he had.

Izuku snapped his head away from the villain for a split second to check on Aizawa, and it was a sight to behold.  At least twenty of the villains and their pokemon were already knocked out, lying around in piles on the ground.

* * *

  
  


Shouta and Darkrai moved like water, flowing together like a river.  Every action was calculated and perfectly coordinated. They really were a true team.

Darkrai would disable a pokemon when they were about to attack, and Shouta would use his binding cloth to take them out as swiftly as possible.  When Darkrai wasn’t covering Shouta’s back, he was also fighting. 

“Darkrai, behind you!” Shouta shouted as he saw a group of villains sneaking up on his partner.  Darkrai whipped around, already using his attack before any of the villains ever had the chance to attack.  Six dark purple orbs shot out of Darkrai’s hands, each connecting with a villain or their pokemon, causing them to drop to the floor, sleeping.  

Shouta continued to fight off the villains, hoping he was holding off the villains for long enough for the students to escape.  As he fought, he caught a glance of the man with the hands covering his body. He stood completely still, watching the fight go on not caring enough to move.  The horrible monster was standing next to him, face blank and emotionless. 

_ He must be the leader. _ Shouta thought.  There was one thing he noticed, though. The man in the suit with the Spiritomb was gone.

_ Shit! _

* * *

  
  


“None of you shall leave this place.  I am sure of that!” The man said, shooting out his hand.  Izuku saw Thirteen’s gardevoir step forward to face the spiritomb, but something else moved first.

“DIE!” Bakugo’s voice called as a massive ball of fire shot out of nowhere, soaring towards the spiritomb.  Next to the fireball was another pokemon, and Izuku recognized it to be Kirishima’s Boldore.

The fireball connected with a massive explosion, and Izuku could only assume that Boldore did as well. Kirishima and Bakugo were standing at the front of the group, confident grins on their faces.

“I’ll have to admit, that caught me off guard.  I did not plan for any counterattacks.” The man’s voice said from somewhere in the smoke generated by Typhlosion’s attack.  “But I’m afraid you were just too weak. Now scatter!” 

The entire area was taken up once again by the same deep purple fog from before.  Kirishima and Bakugo’s attack had done nothing to the enemy Spiritomb, and now the entire area was filled with a thick layer of fog.  Izuku could barely see three feet in front of him.

“Move, you two! Gardevoir, suck up the fog with a black hole!” Thirteen called out.  Gardevoir moved to do just that, but it was just a moment too late. One moment he was standing on flat ground, and the next moment he was falling through the air. Falling straight to a blue expanse of water below him. 

“AHH!” He screamed in the manliest voice possible.  He fell into the water, plunging into the liquid. The impact stung a little bit, but luckily it didn’t hurt too bad.  Izuku reoriented himself and started to the surface for air.

Izuku was about halfway there when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.  Whipping around, Izuku’s eyes went wide as he saw what was swimming at a  _ very  _ fast speed,  _ directly _ at him.

A Sharpedo.

Izuku tried to scream in fright, but it came out as just bubbles in the water.  He frantically tried to swim up, but the pokemon was closing in and Izuku knew he wouldn’t make it in time. He closed his eyes and waited for the worst.

“Aerial Ace!” The voice was muffled through the water but he could still hear it well enough. A different pokemon shot through the water, creating a ruffle of bubbles.  It was a frogadier, Tsuyu’s pokemon. It whipped its foot around, connecting with the top of the Sharpedo’s head just before it got to Izuku.

Frogadier turned, shooting its tongue out and grabbing Izuku by the waist.  With a heave, it threw Izuku out of the water where he soared into the air for a few moments before landing with a thud on the wooden deck of the boat.  Tsuyu’s Frogadier shot out of the water, landing gracefully on the deck as well. 

Izuku turned to see two people on the boat with him, as well as two pokemon.  First off, there was Tsuyu there with her frogadier, and then the boy that looked like he was wearing a diaper with his shuckle.

“Thanks for the save, Asui.  I was-”

“Call me Tsu.  And it’s no problem.” Tsu interrupted.  Izuku was so used to formalities that calling someone by their first name, a nickname no less, would be a wake up call.

“And you are…?” Izuku inquired.

“Mineta Minoru.” The boy said.  Izuku nodded. He’d heard the name before.  Particularly from overhearing one of the girls gossiping that he was a massive pervert. Izuku decided to ignore that fact for now, as it didn’t matter at the moment.  What mattered was assessing the situation. Izuku turned around to face the boat and-

“Give up, you twerps! We’ve got you surrounded! If you just jump in, my Sharpedo won’t hurt you...too bad.” The villain called out.  It was more than one villain, actually. There were at least six people in the water, all wearing diving gear and wetsuits. Along with the villains, however, were their pokemon. Two Sharpedo, A Tentacruel, a Starmie, and two Gyarados. 

“That’s…a lot of pokemon.” Izuku muttered. They were all water pokemon, so obviously whatever group of villains this was had planned it all out as to where each villain trainer needed to be.

“Midoriya, is Riolu still in his pokeball?” Tsu asked. Izuku shook his head, turning his attention to the girl.

“He was right next to me.  He wasn’t in the water?” Tsu shook her head and Izuku’s heart sunk.  He frantically looked over the edge to make sure that Riolu wasn’t still stuck in the water with all of the villains.  Though, finding that he wasn’t made the situation equally worse.

“We must have gotten separated.  When the villain teleported us away, we must have gotten split up! This is bad...Really bad.” Izuku muttered.  All of the villains just sat in the water, floating at the surface with their pokemon. They were waiting, but Izuku could tell that they were getting impatient.

Izuku was stuck, out on a boat, surrounded by villains with no way of escape.

And Riolu wasn’t there to help him.


	14. The USJ Part 2

**USJ Part 2**

 

_ I am back! Here’s this one, hopefully done relatively quick compared to the wait time of the last one _

* * *

  
  


Riolu stood by Izuku’s side as the purple fog filled the area from the villain’s spiritomb.  Riolu felt anger start to rise in his chest. He’d always hated ghost types. They were always so sneaky and always up to no good, and this situation only proved that fact. Not only that, but Riolu had never been able to fight back against ghost types when he was living on the streets, as none of his attacks could affect them.

Riolu steeled himself against the fog.  He needed to be brave, Izuku needed him to be brave.  He couldn’t abandon Izuku, no matter what. Not after all he’d done for him.  So, Riolu’s eyes darted around the region, looking for some way out of the situation.  In front of him, there was the villain and the Spiritomb, and on all other sides there was fog that would likely teleport him somewhere if he got too close.  That left the only option as a full on frontal attack. Riolu reached out with his mind, attempting to prod for the familiar power of One for All. Riolu thought he felt the edges of Izuku’s mind.  He reached out and-

Riolu’s concentration was broken completely by the feeling of coldness washing over him.  One moment he was standing on flat ground, and the next he was falling over onto cold, hard rock.  

Riolu grunted, pushing himself into a standing position.  While he’d been thinking of what to do, the villain had made his move, and now Riolu had no idea where he was.  Riolu looked around to see a purple portal closing in the air and a few more figures tumbled onto the ground. Riolu recognized them as Uraraka and her pokemon, as well as the boy with the white and red hair that Riolu hadn’t cared enough to remember his name.

“Eep!” He heard Uraraka squeal as she tumbled down the hill a few meters before pushing herself to her feet.  Riolu’s heart dropped as he realized something. 

The portal had closed and Izuku hadn’t come through.  Izuku was somewhere else, separated by that damn ghost type pokemon. Riolu started to panic.  Izuku was his anchor, the only person outside of All Might and a few others that Riolu really felt safe around.  He was able to manage being in proximity with other humans, sure, but without Izuku there it was so much more difficult.  He started to breathe harder.

“Riolu! Are you okay?” Uraraka rushed over, kneeling next to him.  Riolu took a tentative step back before relenting. Luckily, Uraraka was one of the people he knew he could trust.  Still, he couldn’t stop his instincts from forcing him to be more cautious. Shaking off his uneasiness, he nodded silently.  Uraraka let out a breath of relief, standing up.

“Where are we?” She asked, putting a finger to her chin.  Riolu looked around the surroundings to get a scope of what was actually going on.  They were all standing on a rocky slope, angled downhill towards a flat area with what looked like a few decimated buildings. 

“The landslide zone.” The boy with the white and red hair said, “And those down there are villains.” Riolu’s heart dropped.  More villains, which meant more bad pokemon. Looking down the hill, he swore he saw at least ten different pokemon, all scaling up the hill.  They were all either rock or ground types, if Riolu was just going based off of what he remembered from Izuku’s notes. That made it ten on...well, five, but more like three or four.  There was Riolu himself, then the boy with the white and red hair had an alolan ninetales, then Uraraka had her Togekiss, clefairy, and Eevee, but Riolu knew for a fact that Eevee was  _ not  _ ready to battle yet.  

“That’s...bad.” Uraraka muttered, taking a step back.  Then she tilted her head, “Riolu, where’s Deku?” 

Riolu shook his head as if to say  _ I don’t know _ .  Luckily, Uraraka was able to read what he was trying to say, and her face dropped as well.

“You mean you guys got seperated? That’s horrible!” 

“We don’t have time to worry about such things.  Now, I have a plan. I need you all to follow me and cover any stragglers.” Riolu flinched at the seriousness of his tone.

“We can’t be attacking the villains, can we, Todoroki?” Uraraka asked.  So that was his name.

“And don’t get in my way.” Todoroki said.

_ Great, another arrogant one.  We already had one with that stupid Bakugo, we don’t need another. _ Riolu thought.  Todoroki and the rest of the group started to walk down to meet the villains, but Riolu didn’t budge.  His eyes scanned the facility from the high point, trying to see if he could spot anything else. Aizawa was still fighting villains in the middle, and Riolu could see other excursions happening in the other zones.

“Riolu, we’ll need your help!” Uraraka called.  Riolu inwardly cringed. She was right. He didn’t want to have to listen to some confident asshole’s directions, but he knew that they would need as much help as they could get.  Still, his first priority was finding Izuku.

With a huff, Riolu covered the distance between where he was and where Uraraka was with a few short leaps.  

The villains were closer now, still trudging up the hill, their pokemon making a wall in front of them.  Riolu prepared himself for a fight, and it was going to be a tough one.

Good thing he had type advantage. 

* * *

  
  


Izuku started to panic, feeling the fear building up within him.  They were surrounded by villains who had the landscape advantage. Aizawa was stuck fighting against an endless onslaught of villains and his friends were all split up, all at some corner of the facility.  

And he had  _ no _ idea where Riolu was.  

Was he hurt?  Was he captured? What if he was alone, having to fight against villains by himself?  What about Uraraka? Where was she? 

“Midoriya, you’re muttering again.” came Tsu’s voice, even and serious as ever.  Luckily it was enough to pull Izuku from his mindless blubbering. Only then did he realize something that was able to suppress the fear bubbling up inside bim.

He had two of his classmates with him.  They could come up with a plan. That’s what mattered right now anyways.

“Sorry.” Izuku apologized, feeling guilty for starting to have a panic attack at such an important moment, “Let’s figure out a plan on how to get out of here.”

“What do you mean a plan? We’re going to die! I didn’t even get to touch Yaoyorozu’s boobs!” Mineta wailed, throwing himself onto the ground like...well like a baby.  Izuku could feel himself cringing at the boy’s attitude. It also certainly didn’t help quench his panic. He was barely staying calm as it was, he didn’t need that kind of shouting to throw him off kilter.

“Stop that.” Tsu said, kicking him lightly. Mineta scrambled to his feet, taking a few steps away from Tsu cautiously, “What matters right now is getting out of here, not your stupid pervy fantasies.  Plus, you’re going to give Midoriya a panic attack.” The words seemed to have  _ some _ effect on Mineta, since he at least looked a little apologetic towards Izuku.

“It’s fine, really.  I’ll be fine.” Izuku assured them.

“I’m pretty sure your face was literally white when you realized Riolu wasn’t here.” Tsu said.  Izuku paled a little. Was it really that obvious? 

“I-I’ll be fine, I promise.  Don’t worry about me.” Izuku assured.  Tsu just raised an eyebrow at Izuku, not buying it.  Eventually, she looked away shrugging.

“It’s a six versus two, and Mineta’s Shuckle won’t be of much help.  That just leaves Frogadier here, and I know he won’t be able to take out six pokemon on his own.” Tsu thought out loud, looking down to her partner by her feet.  Izuku nodded in agreement. Even the strongest of Pokemon would be hard pressed to win a six on one.

Izuku looked back over the water, seeing all the villains, hoping an idea would come to him.  There were six villains, each had their own pokemon the exceeded in the water. They had Tsu and her Frogadier, then Mineta with his Shuckle.  They were horribly outnumbered, and the villains could just attack and easily overpower them. 

“Why aren’t they attacking us?” Izuku voiced, an idea forming in his mind.  

“Maybe they have orders not to hurt us?” Mineta suggested, his voice hopeful.  Izuku shook his head.

“One of their Sharpedo nearly ate Midoriya for breakfast.  If they had orders not to hurt us then that wouldn’t have happened.” Izuku winced at Tsu’s choice of words.  He certainly didn’t  _ feel _ like he would be tasty.  Maybe they Sharpedo had a different opinion.

“They’re being awfully cautious.  They have the obvious advantage, yet they won’t attack. Unless…” Izuku trailed off.  Everything clicked into place. Why they villains attack, why Tsu was put in the water zone despite the fact that she had an obvious advantage there.

“I got it!” Izuku said, jumping up.  He lowered his voice to ensure that the villains wouldn’t overhear him. “They don’t know what pokemon we have.  It all makes sense now! They aren’t attacking the boat directly because they don’t know if we have some pokemon to counter it!  It also explains why they put Tsu here! If they knew what pokemon we had, then it would have made sense for them to put Tsu in the fire zone where she’d be at a disadvantage rather than where she has an obvious advantage!” 

Tsu put her hand to her chin, thinking.  “That still doesn’t help our situation, Midoriya.”  Her bluntness felt like a punch to the gut.

“Unless...we can lie!” Mineta spat out, “We can tell them we have some crazy powerful pokemon and scare them away!”  he ran up to the edge of the boat, “Hey you villains! Don’t mess with us, we have a-”  
Mineta was cut off when Tsu’s frogadier slapped him away from the edge of the boat with his tongue. “You’ll give us away, just give us some time to think of something.” Tsu scolded.  

“Midoriya, you’re the pokemon nerd here.  What kind of pokemon could we threaten them with to scare them off?” 

“Whah!?” she startled Izuku out of his thoughts, “I don’t know, guys…” Izuku had been staring at the ground the entire conversation.  He felt like if he looked out at the villains in the water that he may start to have another panic attack. He looked up to look Tsu in the eyes, and he noticed something.

A pink shape floating above Tsu’s head and a few feet behind her and Mineta.  The samne pink shape that tended to show up at the perfectly wrong times. Mew.

Or maybe the perfectly right time.

“We might not have to…” Izuku breathed out.  Mew gave Izuku a smile when it noticed Izuku looking at it before floating behind the corner, into the cabin of the ship they were currently stranded on.

“I’ll be one second, you guys.  Call me out here if the villains start to do stuff…” Izuku said, not waiting for a response as he pushed through his classmates in pursuit of Mew.  Tsu and Mineta had confused looks on their faces as he opened the door to the cabin of the boat, and Tsu seemed like she was even about to stop him, but decided against it.

Inside the cabin Izuku saw Mew, just floating in the middle of the room.  It bobbed up and down happily once he saw Izuku, making a big commotion of happy noises. 

“Mew, what are you doing here?” Izuku asked, but realized it never really responded to that question anyways.

“Nevermind that.  I need your help.” 

 

* * *

 

Riolu followed the white and red haired boy and Uraraka down the hill towards the villains.  Riolu scoffed at the boy’s pure stupidity. Did he really intend to go head on against all these villains alone?  It certainly seemed that way.

“Todoroki, don’t you think we should come up with a plan?” Uraraka voiced the same concerns that Riolu had.  The boy, apparently named Todoroki, continued walking at a brisk pace, his ninetales next to him.

_ Arrogant bastard… _ Riolu thought.  Only cocky and overconfident people would ignore people trying to help like that. 

Todoroki was nearly to the group of villain pokemon when he stopped and his ninetales walked in front of Todoroki, like a barrier between him and the villain pokemon. 

“Yuki, Blizzard.” Todoroki said.  Ninetales arched its back, tail flaring up.  Riolu felt the entire area suddenly grow  _ cold _ .  The temperature dropped at least fifty degrees and the wind picked up.  Snow materialized out of nowhere and was blown by the sudden wind away from the ninetales.  Riolu had to lift an arm to shield himself from the cold snow flying into his eyes. 

The onslaught of sheer power and cold continued on for a few seconds before Riolu finally felt it relent.  The temperature of the air rose slightly, but not by much. When Riolu looked around, what he saw astounded him.

The entire landslide zone was  _ covered _ in snow.  A layer of white fluff at least three inches thick.  That wasn’t the worst of it, though. That was just the area that Ninetales hadn’t targeted, collateral damage, if you will. The real scene was what happened to the villains and their pokemon. 

Six people and six pokemon were all encased in a later of ice, snow packed in on top.  At least five feet of snow and ice covered everyone. Riolu could see people struggling to move inside of the ice to no avail.  Riolu just watched with shock as Todoroki strode up casually to the villain that seemed to be the leader of the group.

“Now, you’re going to tell me why you’re all here and then you’re going to go turn yourself in.” Todoroki said calmly.

“And why would I do that, you brat?” The villain spat back.  

Todoroki tilted his head before retrieving his other pokeball from his belt, holding it in front of him. “Let’s see...You’re frozen in place right now.  That ice is many degrees below freezing. In a matter of a few minutes, you and your associates, including all of their pokemon, will start to lose feeling in your limbs from the cold as your cells slowly succumb to frostbite. After that, your limbs will start to stop working all together, and eventually, you’ll die here.  I don’t want to leave you like this, but I will if it means getting the information out of you that I need. Now, I’ll ask again. What are you guys doing here?”

The villain swallowed, obviously unnerved, “L-look man, I don’t want too much trouble.  That crazy dude said that he’s here to kill All Might. He’s crazy! All I know about it is that he told us we could snag some kid’s pokemon and sell them to evil organizations to get some quick cash!” Todoroki’s face dropped.  He threw his other pokeball into the air.

“Ninetales, thaw them out except for their feet.  We need them to stay put till the authorities get here.” a form appeared on the field.  It was another ninetales, except for the fact that it looked a bit different. Instead of the white and blue fur of Todoroki’s other Ninetales, it had a yellow coat that shone in the light with yellow tips on each tail.  Riolu recognized it from Izuku’s notes as the other form of Ninetales, the Kantonian ninetales. 

The kantonian ninetales arched it’s back and steam erupted from the area, melting off the ice and snow.  It turned into water and flowed down the hill except for the ice surrounding the last six inches of each villains feet, cementing them in place. 

“Return.” Todoroki said, recalling the Kantonian ninetales as soon as its job was done.  He put the pokeball back on his belt. He kneeled down in front of his other Ninetales, and Izuku thought that he would return it to its pokeball as well.

Instead, Todoroki reached up to his pokemon’s face and scratched it behind the ears.  He looked like he had a massive smile on his face.

“You did great, Yuki.  Are you ready to go more?” The Ninetales nodded its head softly.  To Riolu’s surprise, the trainer that seemed so outwardly cold and hostile was acting genuinely warm and compassionate towards his pokemon, congratulating it and petting it softly before standing up.  He even had a nickname for it.

“Let’s go.  If they really think that they have a way to kill All Might, then the teachers are going to need all the help they can get.  Let’s go.” Todoroki said, falling back into his serious tone and body language.

Riolu shrugged at Uraraka, taking off after Todoroki.  As they jogged towards the commotion in the middle of the USJ, Riolu couldn’t help but think.

_ Why didn’t his other Ninetales get the same treatment? _

 

* * *

 

_ “ _ I need your help.” Izuku said.  Mew just responded by tilting its head and spinning in a circle again.  _ Did it seriously want to play around at a time like this? _

“Look, Mew. Look outside that window.  There are six villains that are going to attack at any moment and we can’t do anything to stop them.  We need your help. Please.” Izuku begged. He didn’t even know for sure whether or not Mew actually had battling power.  In fact, it seemed like it had no inclination towards battle, considering all of its playing around and carelessness. 

Mew looked out the window and inspected the villains in the water.  It frowned and turned back to Izuku, the playful smile gone from its face, replaced my a slightly more serious expression.

“I don’t have Riolu with me.  We got seperated. I know you aren;t my pokemon, but you’re our last option. We’ll need all the help we can get.  Even if it’s only distracting them for long enough to get away. Will you help?” Mew tilted its head, inspecting Izuku further.

“Please?” 

Mew simply nodded, happily spinning in a circle again.  Izuku let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. That was step one down

“Okay, okay, okay.” he said, going through a list of possible options for plans in his head. “Is there a way you can help without revealing yourself?”  Mew shook its head at this.

“So in order to use attacks you need to be visible?” Mew nodded, confirming Izuku’s uneasiness.,  He wasn’t so sure that it would be a good idea to have Mew reveal itself, as it seemed to like to keep itself hidden to everyone except for Izuku.  In addition, Izuku had no idea how he’d explain off some mysterious pokemon that nobody in the history of the written world had document of..

“That doesn’t matter right now.” Izuku scolded himself, biting his lip, “Can you distract them while we escape? Also, could you show yourself to Asui and Mineta for a second just so they know what’s going on?” Izuku loathed to think of what he’d do to explain away Mew, but yet again, that didn’t matter right now.

“Mew mew!” Mew said cheerfully, starting to float towards the door.  Izuku took a deep breath. This was going to be a mess, but hopefully it should work.  Izuku gesture for Mew to follow. He stepped back out onto the deck of the boat with Mew behind him.

“Midoriya, are you okay?  You kind of just bailed on us.” Tsu said.  Izuku scratched the back of his neck nervously.

“Yeah...sorry. I was trying to figure out some sort of plan.” Izuku mumbled, “Good news is I think I’ve got an idea in mind.” 

“Is it better than throwing Mineta in and using that as a distraction to fuel our escape?” Tsu said.  Izuku couldn’t tell if she was being serious or not. ”That’s all I’ve got so far.” 

“Hey, what did I ever do to you?” Mineta wailed.

“As soon as Midoriya left, you ‘tripped’ and put your hand on my boobs.  I know it wasn’t an accident. Now, Midoriya, do we have a plan or can we go with option B?” Tsu’s voice was completely serious, not a hint of joking in it.  She had to be joking, though, right?

Izuku shook his head to clear his thoughts. “I think I have a plan, though I’m pretty sure it only has like a five percent chance of working.” When the two didn’t show any indication that he should stop, so Izuku continued, “You’re going to have to trust me here.  I know it may sound crazy, but, when I give you guys the call, we’re all going to jump off the back of the boat and make a run for it.” 

“Are you crazy! There are Sharpedo in the water that are going to eat us! What’s going to hold them off?” Mineta received a smack on the back of the head from Tsu.

“I trust you, Midoriya, but I can’t help but feel lie this is a bit of a flimsy plan.  Mineta is right, who is going to hold off the villains?” Tsu said calmly, “Remember my plan is always an option.” She added in a whisper at the end.

Izuku took a deep breath, “That’s where my...friend comes into play.” 

“Your friend?” 

“Before they show themselves, I need you guys to promise me something. I know it may sound ridiculous at a time like this, but I’m still trying to figure out the entire situation myself, so I need you two to promise me that you won’t tell anyone about what you’re about to see, not even the teachers.” Izuku explained.  He needed to cover all of his bases. Mew was floating next to him on the open air, invisible to all but Izuku’s eyes.

“That’s a bit ominous, Midoriya.  I suppose I can promise that if it’s that important to you, though I will say it’s probably not a good idea to keep something major from out teachers.” Tsu said.  Izuku mentally sighed. One out of two.

“I’ll keep my mouth shut, but you owe me one!” Mineta said.

“Whatever that means, sure.” Izuku muttered.  He took a deep breath.  _ Calm down, Izuku.  It’s just showing the Mew. _  Izuku looked over to the pink pokemon floating next to him and nodded his head. 

“A pokemon?” Mineta said.  Tsu had an odd look on her face, so it was evident that the both them could see Mew now.

“I thought you only had one pokemon, Midoriya.” Izuku nodded his head.

“I do only have one pokemon, and that’s Riolu.  For the last few months, though, this one has been following me around and causing mischief. I’ve taken to calling them ‘Mew’ because it’s all they say.” 

“Mew!” Mew cheered, doing a mid-air twirl, emphasizing Izuku’s point. 

“I don’t know why Mew has started following me around,” Izuku continued, “But when I looked online, I couldn’t find  _ anything _ regarding it.  Not a single mention or picture of document of this pokemon.  Now, we’re running out of time, and I can explain the rest at a later time if you guys want, but I need you to trust me.” 

Tsu and Mineta both nodded their heads, as did Frogadier and Shuckle.  Izuku let out a breath.

“Here’s what we’re going to do.  Mew has the special ability to make itself invisible to those it chooses.  It could be completely invisible, visible to only a few people, or any combination of the sort.  My plan is for Mew to go cause mischief among the villains while we sneak out the back. Mineta will have to put away shuckle, but Tsu’s Frogadier could stay out for assistance with our getaway.  We need to get back to the main pavillion. Soone, Aizawa is going to get overrun and is going to need someone to help him.” Izuku took a deep breath, catching up on all the oxygen he lost from his long winded explanation.  

He proceeded to go over the details of his plan and get it set into place. Tsu and Mineta gathered at the back of the boat, ready to jump off for the getaway. Izuku walked to the front of the boat with Mew and went over a general plan of action as to what it should do to cause the most problems among the group.  He nodded to Mew, telling it to wait in place until he gave the signal, and luckily it complied.

“You guys ready?” Izuku asked Tsu and Mineta when he met up with them at the back of the boat.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Tsu nodded.

“I have so much more to live for! I’m so ready!” Mineta said. Izuku couldn’t tell if he was crying or if he was just super enthusiastic.  Probably the former. Taking a deep breath, Izuku steeled himself, hoping that his plan would work. If it didn’t...well, he didn’t want to think about what would happen if it didn’t work.

Finally ready to do, izuku turned back around and gave Mew a big thumbs up. It nodded to Izuku and turned its attention to the villains, getting ready to do its part.

“Let’s go!” Izuku said, throwing himself over the edge of the boat into the cold water below.  

* * *

  
  


Shouta was beginning to tire.  He could feel his arms tiring, and Darkrai wasn’t fairing much better.  He could only take so many villains down before he would run out of energy.  Then he’d...well, he didn’t want to think about what would happen if he failed. 

“Darkrai!” Aizawa warned.  The black pokemon turned around just in time to sidestep an ice beam and put the offending pokemon to sleep with a dark void. Shouta spun around, looking for any leftover villains, and to his surprise, there weren’t any.

All the minor villains were either asleep from Darkrai’s attacks or unconscious from Shouta’s binding cloth.  Taking a deep breath, Shouta searched for any more threats. All that he could see that was left to take care of were the man covered in hands, the presumed ringleader, and the  _ monstrosity _ .  The horrible fusion of pokemon.

“Eraserhead...you’re so cool.” The man said.  Shouta’s head snapped to look at the approaching threat.  The man’s voice reflected the same impression that his appearance did.  

Complete insanity. 

That just wasn’t a way normal people talked.  His voice had a tone to it that just screamed  _ danger _ .  The inflection of his voice was mischievous and contriving. To add to the effect, he was covered in gray, fake, severed hands, and he was scratching at the sides of his neck.  Where his hair did stick out from behind the hand covering his face, it was blue and unruly. 

The man started walking down the steps towards Shouta, and the hulking beast walked right next to him, feet making massive  _ thuds _ as it took steps. Shouta cautiously took a few steps back to keep a safe distance, and Darkrai took up the spot between Shouta and the villain.

“Took out all of my pawns with on go, like the enemies in a boss fight.” The man said, “Too bad, you’re at the boss encounter now.” Shouta nodded at Darkrai to tell him to be ready.  Whatever that  _ thing _ was, it looked powerful.

“Don’t get so defensive, Eraserhead. I just want to...talk.  Now, tell me, where is All Might? He was supposed to be here.” 

Shouta’s mind raced, thinking of a million possible situations that the villain would be able to know that.  Sure, All Might  _ was _ supposed to be here.  He was supposed to be here in place of Shouta, in fact.  However, the crazy man had used up all of his time before he even got to work.  That meant the villain at least didn’t have an inside source. So, he’d gotten the information from another-

_ The break in _ Shouta realized.  It was the only explanation.  There had been a break in by the media, but it had obviously been caused by an outside source.  Did a villain use the guise of being a media person to steal a copy of All Might’s schedule? That had to be it.

This, however, only brought up more problems and it didn’t solve any either.  If these villains were crazy enough to go for a move so bold, then they had to a reason.

“You should be thankful All Might isn’t here.” Shouta tested the waters, fishing for information.

He got a bite.

“Oh, that’s where you’re quite wrong,  _ hero _ .” He said the last word with disgust, “We have a way to kill All Might.  Nomu, why don’t you show him why you’ll be able to kill All Might and that stupid Lucario of his?” 

Shouta barely had time to think.  His brain went into hyperspeed, thinking of a plan of action before the ‘Nomu’ had even moved.  

If the villains were so confident as to coordinate such a large scale attack, then they must have absolute confidence in this thing’s power.  That meant that even if they were wrong, then the thing was powerful. That only left one option open.

“Don’t engage in direct combat! Dodge and use Dark Void!” Shouta called out.  Shouta was lucky he got the call out in time. One moment the monstrosity was standing next to the leader, and the next he was almost on top of Darkrai.

Shouta’s partner barely had time to launch the projectile from his hands.  It struck the Nomu in the chest when he was mere feet from Darkrai. The Nomu stopped his approach, looking like he was wavering.  Dark void was a particularly effective sleep agent. 

Then, it rushed forwards, hitting Darkrai with the full force of a brick break.  Darkrai crashed into the ground with enough force to crack the paving.

“Darkrai!” Shouta shouted, barely stopping himself from running for his friend. 

“That’s the power of Nomu.  He has Insomnia, you see? Huge Power, too.” The villain laughed.

Darkrai was out, down in one shot.  He hadn’t even taken any damage from the rest of the fights with the villains.  The Nomu was just  _ that _ powerful. 

“Hehehe, Eraserhead. Now what will you do? Your only pokemon has-”

The villain was cut off by a resounding  _ boom _ that filled the entire building.  Shouta’s head snapped towards the cause of the noise.  Somewhere in the USJ, a geyser of water shot into the air, at least three, no, four hundred feet into the air.  Something had caused that explosion, something immensely powerful. 

Shouta was busy looking at the sky that he didn’t even realize his mistake of letting his attention get split before it was too late.

“Nomu, get him.”

* * *

  
  


Izuku was swimming as fast as he could, and Tsu and Mineta were right next to him as well.  They were swimming mostly underwater as to not draw the attention of the villains. Izuku was straining his arms and legs, feeling nothing but his drive to get away.

They were about halfway there when…

_ Boom _

The sound of the explosion left Izuku’s bones rattling.  It was deafening, and the entire ground and water around them felt the shockwave. Izuku risked a glance back to look at what might have caused the explosion.

And was met with the view of a giant wave coming their way. Izuku tried to scream, but it was cut off when he was hit by the massive wall of water.  It felt like a punch to the gut, and it knocked the air out of him. He felt the water carry him on the top of the water, and a moment later, he felt his back smack on concrete.  

Izuku sat up, coughing up water, and to his relief, Tsu and Mineta were on the shore as well.  The wave had carried them all the way to the edge of the lake, depositing them relatively safely.

_ No time to waste _ Izuku thought, getting onto his feet quickly.

“We’ve got to go.  Whatever that was, it couldn’t have been good.” Izuku said, helping Tsu and Mineta to their feet.  

The group got up and used the cover of the bushes around the lake to sneak towards the middle pavillion.  Nobody had found them by the time the other side of the boat came into view.

“What the hell?” Mineta said under his breath.  Izuku was speechless as well, and Tsu had stopped moving. 

In the water, all six of the villains pokemon were floating at the surface, unconscious.  

“Something knocked them out…” Izuku breathed.

“Mew mew!” a voice chirped from behind Izuku, and all three people in the group whipped around, looking for the source of the noise.  Izuku let out a breath when he realized it was Mew.

“Did you do all of that? That explosion, was it you?” Izuku asked.  

“Mew!” Mew twirled in confirmation. 

_ What kind of power does this thing have? That explosion...I’ve never seen anything like it except from All Might!  _ Izuku thought.  He looked back at the water to see the villains knocked out pokemon, and this time, he saw something...else.

“Mew! They’re going to drown!” Izuku shot up from behind the bushes, feeling his legs already start to move towards the villains.  In the water, it wasn’t just pokemon that were unconscious. The villains themselves were unconscious, too. People aren’t water pokemon.  They can’t breathe underwater.

“Midoriya!” Tsu hissed, grabbing his hand and pulling him back down behind the bushes. 

“Tsu! They’re going to drown!” Izuku protested.

“And you can’t help them! There’s nothing we can do.” 

Izuku looked back on the scene, suddenly feeling sick.  Those people were going to die, just because  _ he _ hadn’t thought his plan through.  He was about to throw up.

Then, Mew started glowing a soft pink, as did the figures in the water. Then, they all  _ lifted up into the air _ .  The pink glow carried them all through the air, depositing them onto the boat that Izuku, Tsu, and Mineta had been trapped on just a few moments ago. 

“Izuku...just what  _ is _ mew?” Tsu breathed after Mew stopped glowing.

_ I have the exact same question... _ Izuku thought.

“L-later.  For now we need to get out of here.” Izuku managed to say.  He shook himself, forcing his legs to move towards the pavillion.

As he walked, though, he couldn’t help but ponder Tsu’s question. 

_ What are you? _ Izuku thought, looking at the pink pokemon floating next to him.

 


	15. Go Beyond

**Go Beyond**

_You may notice that I cut a lot out regarding the final fight of All Might vs the Nomu. That was intentional. I believe that the anime kinda unnecessarily drew that part out and filled it with unneeded fluff. Therefore, I condensed it._

_ALSO, I COMMISSIONED A PIECE FOR THIS FIC. IT WAS DONE BY THE BRILLIANTLY TALENTED KATE7H ON TUMBLR. LINK: Kate7h.tumblr.com_

* * *

Riolu followed Uraraka and Todoroki to the main pavillion, sticking close to their heels. As much as he would like to go out and search for Izuku on his own, he knew that sticking together would be the best plan of action. If any of them got caught alone versus a group of villains, then it would be bad news for everyone.

As they ran, Riolu couldn't shake the sense of uneasiness with regards to Todoroki. He'd seemed so, well without any other way to put it,  _cold_  at first. His overconfidence in being able to take on the entire group of villains alone and his general tone just screamed that he was looking out for himself and himself alone.

Yet, then Riolu saw how he treated his Ice type Ninetales. Yuki, he'd called it. The cold expression he'd had the entire time melted away when he was congratulating his partner. That softness was one that Riolu recognized. It was the same feeling that he got when it came to Izuku, or the same expression Uraraka wore when she was with any of her pokemon.

Then, he'd turned to his other ninetales and the front was back. The cold, hard expression that conveyed no emotion. He'd called the other Ninetales just 'Ninetales'. No endearing nickname, no love and affection. It didn't make sense.

Perhaps the two had come to some sort of misunderstanding, but Riolu doubted that was it. If they had a disagreement, then Ninetales could have just ignored Todoroki's orders. Yet, it did what he'd said, and did it happily. Something was fishy, and Riolu couldn't quite put his finger on it. Not that it mattered right now.

"Todoroki! Over there!" Ochako said, pointing to the group's left. Heads snapped to where she was looking. Through a line of trees, it looked like the main event was going on. A heated battle between Aizawa and the villains. Riolu could spot villains piled up on the ground, presumably taken out by Aizawa and his Darkrai.

"Use the bushes as cover to sneak closer. We need to be ready to help if things go south." Todoroki said, motioning with his hand for the three of them to follow. They crept behind the line of bushes, keeping out of sight of the villains while also peering through the cracks to get a good sight on the events.

As Riolu got closer, he could see the full extent of what was going on. Currently, Aizawa was standing still, staring down the villains and the  _monstrosity_  that looked like a fusion between tens of different pokemon. Just the sight of it made Riolu want to vomit.

Suddenly, there was a massive explosion as a geyser of water shot straight up into the air, causing a resounding  _boom_  throughout the entire building. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the attraction. Just as the distraction happened, the villain leader, the man covered in hands, said something, pointing.

Riolu didn't even have time to blink. One moment, the purple skinned monster was standing at the villain's side, not moving, and the next moment, Aizawa's Darkrai was sailing through the air from a high-powered punch. It slammed into the staircase where it stopped moving. Knocked out instantly.

Riolu felt his body start to move before he had the time to process what was going on. He started to step towards Aizawa, to help him before the monster got to him. It was a bad idea, he knew it was. Yet, his legs started moving on their own.

And just as he was about to run out from behind the bushes he stopped. Not of his own accord, but rather, a hand grasping his wrist. He turned back to see it was Uraraka grabbing his hand, stopping him from running to Aizawa's rescue.

"You're just like Deku, you know? Runnin' out to save everyone like that." She said with a smile. The look on her face was friendly, and Riolu calmed down a little bit. He had no idea what he would've done if that Todoroki boy had grabbed him like that.

"We can't go exposing ourselves, even if it is to try to save our teacher." Todoroki said calmly. Riolu immediately felt a little bad. He hadn't been thinking and had nearly endangered everyone.

"We have more pressing issues." Todoroki said, gesturing to the fight. The monster now had Aizawa pinned to the ground, his right arm held behind his back and holding the back of his head with the other hand.

With the gesture of the villain leader, the monster slammed Aizawa's head into the ground at full force.

* * *

"Oh my god…" Tsu muttered, bringing her hand up to her mouth in horror. Displayed in front of them was the scene of the main fight. The fight that had been going on since the beginning of the entire break in. Tens of villains piled up with their pokemon, presumably taken out by Aizawa and Darkrai.

The villain leader was in the middle circle, seemingly untouched.

Then there was Aizawa, pinned down by the monstrosity with dark black-blue skin. His arm was twisted at the wrong angle and there was a pool of blood on the ground under his head. It was horrifying.

Izuku's entire body was practically frozen. If Aizawa lost to this thing...what was he supposed to do? Wait for help to arrive? But, he didn't even know if help  _was_  on the way, and he couldn't just leave Aizawa behind.

The sound of the air splitting again filled the area as the man in the suit from the top of the stairs stepped through a veil of purple mist with his spiritomb. Izuku was just close enough that he could hear what he said.

"Thirteen is...out of commission, but one of the student's pokemon made it out. We have a limited amount of time before the pros show up." Izuku let out a breath. The pros were on the way. They just had to hold out for a little longer.

Izuku looked between Tsu and Mineta to see them just as relieved. Izuku steeled his determination. They weren't out of the ball park yet. They had to stay safe until the pro's arrived, while also trying to get Aizawa out alive. That would be the hardest part, as the hero did  _not_ look like he was in good condition.

"Annoying. Annoying! We get to the final boss and he doesn't even show up! It's a stupid glitch!" The main with the hands sais, stomping his foot into the ground and scratching at the sides of his face. The way he talked struck Izuku a weird way. It was like listening to a child have a tantrum.

"Ugh fine!" he said, throwing his hands into the air, "We'll come back. Maybe All Might will be there next time." He said, turning around. He waved over his shoulder, "Nomu."

The monster got up off of the ground where he was standing over Aizawa, letting the teacher go where he plopped onto the ground, motionless.

"Are they seriously just leaving?" Izuku muttered under his breath. After everything they'd done to break into this place, they were seriously just going to leave on a whim like that? They were leaving all of their minions, for a lack of a better term, behind as well.

The purple gas filled the area and the three villains walked up to the gas. Just before any of them passed into it, however, the man covered in hands stopped in his tracks. He turned around slowly, looking over his right shoulder. Just as his head turned around, Izuku saw his eyes. Strained and bright red pupils bore into Izuku. He wasn't looking anywhere else. No, the villain was looking directly  _at_ him.

"I think that before we leave, we should pick up a few extra kills. Take some of their brats down, maybe make this trip worth something." The villain sneered. Izuku's heart froze in his chest as the villain reached for his side belt, grabbing a pokeball and tossing it into the air.

"Toxicroak, use Poison Jab."

The blue and black frog popped out of the pokeball in midair, sailing towards Izuku from the sky, The pokemon's talons on his hands were glowing a bright purple. It was going to hit him. The attack was going to hit him and there was nothing he could do about it. Not enough time to move out of the way, and not enough time for either Mineta or Tsu's pokemon to get in the way to block the attack.

Time seemed to slow down for Izuku as the pokemon closed the distance. He was getting caught up in his own head again, brain shutting down from panic. This was  _not_  the time that this needed to be happening. Izuku could see it already. Those talons hitting him directly, spearing him through the stomach, nothing he could do about it.

It got closer and closer. Izuku closed his eyes. Closer still.

Then, he felt it. A prodding at the edge of his consciousness. An all too familiar feeling by now. The feeling of Riolu prodding to activate One for All. That could only mean one thing. Riolu was close, and he knew Izuku was in danger.

Izuku reached out in response, feeling for Riolu's side of the bond and reaching out and grabbing for it. He felt himself tap into the well of power that is One for All. Except, this time, something was different.

Maybe it was because of his panic, or maybe it was due to the way that he was planning on using it, but something was definitely different. All other times Izuku had activated One for All, he had been focused on actually  _using it_. Be it attacking the zero pointer, throwing a ball in the fitness test, or using it directly against Bakugo's typhlosion, he'd been set on actually  _using_  the power for a purpose. This time, something was off.

As Izuku frantically grasped for the power like a lifeline, instead of taking ahold of it, he let it take him over, engulfing him. He felt himself slip into the limbo that was the battle bond. This time, it somehow felt more...succinct. Instead of being stuck between Riolu's and his own body, it felt like a if someone mashed them into one person. He could feel his won body and he was looking through his own eyes, but he could also see, hear, and feel everything Riolu was. Including emotions. It was like a second set of senses.

The instant that the connection formed, something kicked into gear. One moment the Toxicroak was mere feet away from him, mere seconds away from hitting Izuku with a direct attack. The next moment, Riolu was there, blocking the attack with a One for All powered up Force Palm with a shower of green sparks. Riolu hit Toxicroak away with a thrust, hitting it in the chest and sending it sprawling away.

"Riolu?" Tsu muttered, "Where did you come from?"

"Thanks for the save, buddy." Izuku said, brushing off the question from Tsu. Izuku stood up fully, taking him out of the hiding place he was in. There was no point in trying to hide when the villains obviously knew where he was.

As Izuku walked out from behind the bushes, he felt unnaturally energetic. Like he could do anything he ever wanted. When he looked down at his own body, he saw small green sparks coiling off of his body, similar to Riolu, but to a far lesser extent. The pokemon was practically cackling with energy.

"There's no way we can fight that thing. We need to get Aizawa to safety." Izuku muttered under his breath. Riolu must have heard him, because he nodded in agreement. Tsu and Mineta had climbed out from behind the bushes as well, taking up stance next to Izuku.

"If I can make a distraction, can you two get Aizawa up the stairs? The Pro's are on the way." Izuku said. Tsu looked between Izuku and the monster that the Villain leader had dubbed the 'Nomu' with concern. Izuku gave her a smile of reassurance, and she reluctantly nodded.

Izuku took a deep breath and steeled himself for the oncoming villain.

"Poison jab. Don't miss this time."

The villain's pokemon broke into a sprint, bringing it's body low to the ground. Izuku and Riolu broke into a battle ready stance, mirroring each other's movements. The toxicroak made the lunge, aiming for Riolu's throat. Not even needing to call out a command, Izuku and Riolu reached forwards, grabbing the toxicroak by the shoulder. Jumping over to the pokemon so that he was behind the enemy, Riolu used the pokemon's arm like a lever, flipping toxicroak over his head with ease and slamming him into the ground. Riolu jumped away, showering sparks.

"That's cheating!" The Villain sneered. He smirked, "Too bad I have the cheat codes as well, little hero. Nomu, get the brat." The monster started to surge forwards. Even with the enhanced strength and speed, Izuku knew that Riolu would have neither time to dodge, nor block the attack. It was going to hit him full force.

"Ice Beam!"

A blue and white cackling beam shot out of the other side of the pavillion, hitting the Nomu square in the side. The the entire creature was encased in a block of ice within seconds.

Looking over, Izuku saw two figures and a couple pokemon. Ochako holding Eevee with her Togekiss, and the Todoroki boy from class with his Alolan Ninetales.

 _No time to think!_  Izuku chastised himself.

"Tsu!" Izuku called out. She took the clue and dashed towards their teacher's limp form on the ground. Hopefully she would get done in time.

"Deku!" Uraraka called, running over. Todoroki jogged over as well. Togekiss took up a place next to Riolu, and then Todoroki's Ninetales next to Togekiss.

"What's going on with Riolu?" Uraraka asked, setting Eevee down on the ground next to her. She instructed the little pokemon to go sit off to the side for the battle. Apparently she'd lost Eevee's pokeball during the teleporting.

"Whatever that  _thing_ is, it shouldn't be able to go anywhere unless-" Todoroki was cut off by the sound of the Nomu screeching at the top of its lungs. It looked down at its frozen body and opened its mouth. Fire streamed out, coating his prison in ruby flames. "-Unless it knows a fire move." Todoroki finished.

"The steam is blocking our vision. Everyone be ready for that thing to attack again." Izuku said. The steam from the fire on the ice had filled the whole area, leaving only silhouettes of the people in the distance.

Izuku strained to see or hear anything when he heard one small command from the villain, "Nomu, get the runt."

* * *

Eevee was terrified. She was stuck in this battle that she didn't want to be a part of. She'd been dragged into the most dangerous part of the entire building, and was barely keeping herself from shaking as she hid next to a bush. Steam filled the area as the monster, the abomination of pokemon that wasn't supposed to exist, destroyed its ice prison.

She couldn't see anything bout outlines. She heard one thing from the other side. One thing that terrified her even more.

"Nomu, get the runt."

The steam parted way as something ran through it. The outline of the monster was getting bigger.

* * *

The steam cloud parted as something moved through it at high speed. Time seemed to slow. The Nomu wasn't running towards the three of them, and it wasn't running for Tsu who was retrieving Aizawa. It was running for the spot that Eevee was hiding on the sidelines.

"No!" Izuku yelled. He and Riolu moved as one, channeling all of the power from One for All that he could into their legs, kicking off. Izuku and Riolu ran as fast as their powered up legs could take them. Riolu got there first, leaping towards the Nomu.

"Get away!" Izuku screamed, rearing an fist back in tandem with Riolu.

"Detroit  **SMASH!** " Izuku screamed. His fist sailed through solid air, hitting nothing, but Riolu's did not. Riolu's arm came into direct contact with the Nomu, releasing a shockwave, blowing everything, including Izuku, away from the epicenter of the blast.

* * *

Eevee froze up. The thing, the Nomu, was coming straight at her. She could see it. In a matter of a few moments, the thing was going to be on top of her, and there was nothing she could do. Eevee curled up, expecting the worst.

"Get away!" She heard a voice call. Something else moved through the for, moving possibly even faster than the monster. The fog parted as something came through, a figure. A black and blue figure, lit up with green sparks, sailed through the air, meeting the monster just as it closed in.

"Detroit  **SMASH!** " Someone yelled as Riolu threw his arm forwards, slamming into the side of the creature's face. As a shockwave erupted from the point of impact, Eevee looked at Riolu, the way he attacked the monster fearlessly. How heroic it was. There was only one thing she could thing as the shockwave blew her away.

 _My savior_.

* * *

Izuku darted forwards, grabbing Eevee before she was sent tumbling. He ran back to the area with Uraraka, setting Eevee down carefully on the ground. Izuku stood back up and looked at the scene.

The shockwave had blown all of the steam from the area. Izuku was expecting to see  _something_ good. A full powered One for All smash directly to the side of the Nomu's head had to do  _some_  damage. Izuku could feel his arm was sore, but he hadn't broken it, which was good.

When Izuku looked over to where the Nomu had been, the scene horrified him. There Riolu was, standing on the ground, the Nomu towering over him, completely unharmed.

"Oh, surprised, little hero? That was quite the powerful attack you put out there." The leader said. Izuku didn't take his eyes off of Riolu, but the leader continued talking anyways, "This Nomu was meant to stand up to All Might. He has all of the typings that resist fighting and steel type attacks, which leaves him with a times thirty-two resistance to fighting. Too bad for you, your Riolu's attacks happen to be fighting type. That's a little unfortunate. Now, Nomu, just knock that brat out and get over here so we can take care of these others."

The NomU moved faster than Izuku had time to react. It brought its fist down right on Riolu's forearm, and Izuku could hear the snap from where he was. At the same time as the attack contacted with Riolu, pain flared up Izuku's forearm.

The sudden jolt broke Izuku's concentration and One for All flickered out. Izuku fell to his knees at the sudden slap of being only back in his own body again. The Nomu threw Riolu down to the ground, leaving a small crater. It ran back to the leader's side, completely unmoving.

 _Riolu!_  Izuku thought, scrambling to crawl over to his partner. The second he put weight on his right arm, his forearm erupted with pain again, screaming in protest. Izuku looked down at his arm, and could see that it was bleeding.

All Might's words echoed in Izuku's mind.  _One of the side effects of One for All is that any injuries sustained by either of you while the bond is active is given to both of you. If Riolu breaks a bone, then you'll break the same bone_.

So the Nomu's attack had broken Riolu's forearm. Izuku tried to scramble to his feet, but as soon as he tired, his legs gave out, tired and not willing to follow his directions. He was stuck there, unable to do anything.

Helpless.

Helpless to help his friends fight against that monster.

"Now, let's get this done with. Nomu ge-"

 _Thwoom!_  The entire building resounded with the sound of a giant piece of metal getting caved in. Everyone's attention turned to the source of the noise. The top of the staircase.

"Do not worry!" A familiar voice called out. Izuku knew that voice. He'd know that voice anywhere.

"Everything will be okay now! Why?" The man himself stopped at the top of the staircase, his Lucario next to him. He wasn't smiling.

"Because I am here!"

All Might was here.

All Might looked to his lucario and nodded. It all happened in the blink of an eye. One moment, Izuku and all the others were face to face with the villains. The next, with a gust of wind, they were all standing by the stairs.

"Stay back, young ones. I shall take care of this. One of you go assist Young Asui with getting Aizawa to safety." All Might said, striding down the stairs. Uraraka nodded and rushed up the stairs, hopping onto Togekiss's back.

"All Might!" Izuku said, reaching out with one arm. His legs still wouldn't cooperate properly, and his right arm was dripping blood onto the stairs. All Might turned over his shoulder, looking at Izuku.

"That thing! It has an extreme resistance to fighting and steel moves!" Izuku protested. If All Might went up against that thing...his moves would have so little effect. All Might just nodded, flashing that toothy smile that he wore when working as a hero.

"It'll be fine, young Midoriya." All Might said, turning away. Izuku wanted to believe that All Might was there to fix everything, he really did. Everyone was cheering, resting easier now that All Might was on the scene. But they didn't know what Izuku knew. They didn't know that he was already at his limit.

Izuku couldn't help but feel uneasy as he watched All Might walk down the flight of stairs, Lucario by his side.

"Midoriya, we need to focus on getting everyone safe." Todoroki's voice said from next to Izuku. He turned to look at the boy, who was gesturing next to him, "You should put Riolu back in his ball. He's not going to be able to fight anymore."

Only then did Izuku realize Riolu was there with them. Panicking, Izuku turned to his partner, and relief washed over him. His forearm looked broken,. Much like Izuku's, but it Riolu was still breathing and just looked a little beat up outside of that. Izuku reached for the pokeball at his waist, but flinched when pain shot up his arm. He grabbed the premier ball with his left hand instead, recalling Riolu. When Izuku looked back at Todoroki, he was looking at his right forearm, an odd look on his face.

"Good, now let's-" Todoroki was cut off when a massive shockwave erupted from the pavillion. Looking down at the field, Izuku could see All Might's lucario, fist to fist with the Nomu. The real battle had begun.

* * *

"Lucario! Hit it again!" All Might called out. He was still under the influence of the battle bond. That fusion of two consciousness into one. He didn't  _need_  to call out the commands. He could just  _do_ them, but from years of needing to call the commands to not look suspicious, he did it on instinct now.

Lucario struck the monster, the Nomu, again, releasing a second shockwave throughout the area as Lucario's attack was absorbed. True to what young Midoriya had said, the thing did not seem to be taking any damage. Or if it was, the damage was minimal.

"It's no use! Nomu was engineered to resist all attacks you can throw at it!" The villain leader snarled, "Give it up!"

All Might gritted his teeth, looking at the situation. Not only did the thing nullify his attacks, but it also seemed to be fast and strong enough to react and block the attacks, hitting back with his own.

"Keep hitting it!" All Might called out. Lucario broke into a stream of successive punches, each met by a block from the Nomu. The force of the blasts from each hit was growing, and All Might could see the villain leader getting forced back slowly by the intensity.

"That's it! Hit it back with Brick Break!" The villain shouted over the winds. All Might was anticipating a counter of some sort.

"Into the air!" All Might called out. Instead of kicking off the ground to dodge, Lucario jumped slightly into the air, then used force palm on his feet, slamming a foot into the Nomu's fact to vault himself into the air. The Nomu's hand just missed Lucario.

"Aura Sphere!" Lucario let go a blast of energy that sailed into the ground, making direct contact with the Nomu.

"Don't let up! Close Combat!" All Might screamed. Lucario didn't even wait for the dust to clear. He ran forwards into the cloud, meeting the massive figure. Close combat landed, hitting Nomu with a series of powerful punches, ending with one powerful hit.

"It's no use! Nomu!" The villain called out.

There was a screeching noise from inside the cloud of dust, and the next moment, Lucario was sent flying out of the cloud. The pokemon crashed into a tree, where he slumped to the ground. Pain arched up All Might's back, and he barely stopped himself from crying out in pain.

One for All was still active, so Lucario wasn't knocked out yet. Even if the pokemon wasn't done, All Might could feel that he was at his limit. Grasping for One for All was like trying to hold water in his hands. He could feel it slipping away.

He couldn't let it. Not when everyone was relying on him like this. "Lucario! Are you ready to go again?" The pokemon got up from his spot by the tree and rushed over, taking up a spot between All Might and the Nomu once again.

"Damned annoying heroes….you never know when to give up, do you?" The villain leader called out. All Might didn't say anything and just nodded to Lucario.

"Force Palm!" Lucario hit the Nomu again, only to be met with resistance. If there was one thing All Might was noticing, it was the fact that the Nomu was tiring. Lucario was tiring as well, but All Might could  _tell_  that the Nomu was slower. Its attacks packed less of a punch. They were  _doing damage_.

"Again!"

"Give it up!"

"Again!"  
"Don't you see that he resists everything you can put out?" All Might nodded.

"You said he has resistance! Not immunity! So if it can take our 100%, then we just need to put out 110%!" All Might screamed.

"Lucario! Close Combat! Don't let up!"

Lucario's attacks were like lightning. His hits faster than the human eye could see. Each successive hit struck the Nomu, but it wasn't able to block them all. Some strikes hit the Nomu directly, and All Might could see it's movements slowing.

"Force Palm!" All Might called out when he saw an opening through Lucario's eyes. His partner landed the hit directly in the Villain's stomach, sending it flying through the trees.

"After it!" All Might screamed. Lucario ran after it, and All Might could only see what was going on through his partner's eyes. The Nomu was off the ground and running back at Lucario.

"Slide under it and use Meteor Mash!"All Might knew he would be heard, and Lucario followed through, dodging a hit and hitting the Nomu in the small of its back. Nomu was sent flying back out of the trees into the pavillion, Lucario on its heels.

"Let's go! Close Combat again!" Lucario continued the onslaught. Hit after hit connected with the the Nomu.

"Tell me, villain. Have you ever heard these words?" All Might sneered. The villain leader looked actually  _scared_.

"When a hero is losing at their best, there is one thing that they need to do. They need to push past their limits. They need to go beyond!"

"Nomu!" The villain leader cried out desperately.

"Force Palm!  **PLUS ULTRA!** " Lucario struck true, hitting the Nomu with enough force to blast everyone in the area away from the dueling pokemon. The nomu was sent flying into the sky, where it struck the roof of the dome of the USJ.

It didn't stop there. It ripped through the building, sailing even further, up into the sky. All Might took a step back, breathing heavily.

They'd done it, but there had been a price. He was past his limit. If he moved a single inch, he'd fizzle out.

* * *

Everyone cheered when the Nomu was sent flying out of the arena. All Might had done it. He'd won. All of the students were now safely at the top of the hill, grouped up around Aizawa and Thirteen's unconscious bodies. As Izuku looked down at the scene, he noticed something.

Something bad.

All Might was leaking steam. It was streaming off of his body, and Izuku knew that only meant one thing. All Might was mere moments from reverting into his powered down form. Izuku started to try to move towards his mentor. If there was something he could do to help, Anything. Then he would do it.

Yet, the second he tried to move, his legs gave way, grounding him once more. All Might was leaking more steam now. It was only a matter of-

A gunshot cracked through the air as a bullet streaked towards the villains, striking true. Then another two followed, striking the villain leader, both landing as well. Izuku turned to the sound of the commotion and noticed the hero. Snipe, one of Yuuei's teachers. Not only snipe, though. All of the teachers at Yuuei were there.

"Solar Beam!"

"Ice Beam!"

"Hyper Beam!"

All of the teachers let off their pokemon's attacks, all sailing towards the villains. Just before the wave of attacks reached them, the villains stepped through a purple portal, disappearing. Only once Izuku was sure they were gone did he let out the breath he was holding.

They'd done it.

They'd won.

* * *

_Disclaimer, I'm really bad at fight scenes.  Well, I'm hoping that the style of battles I have planned for the Sports Festival will be easier to write, but that  All Might fight kinda felt 'ehhh' to me.  I hope it wasn't as bad as It feels to me._

_SIDE NOTE: I haven't gotten many reviews on my last couple postings of this fic? Are you guys still liking it? Reviews are what help writers keep going, so keep em comin! That's all!_


	16. Aftermath

**Aftermath**

 

_ I’m finally back! I’ve been working on a whole lot of things recently, but I’ve finally gotten this chapter done.  Just to let ya’ll know, Izuocha week is coming up, as well as the last chapter of my your name fic and a seperate one shot.  As soon as I can, I’ll get to this, since I have lots of plans, but I don’t know when I’ll officially be back on this Pokemon grind. _

_ P.S. you may have noticed something in the tags on this fic :DD (MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE ADDED A COUPLE) _

  
  


The authorities arrived on scene only a few minutes after the pro heroes did.  The villains were rounded up in mass, and all of the students were evacuated successfully.  In general, no students were harmed and their pokemon had minimal damage. 

Everyone was outside of the USJ now, giving reports and statements to the police.  All of the students’ pokemon were having basic checkups to make sure everything was okay at the same time.  The only severe injuries were Thirteen, Aizawa, and then to a slightly lesser extent, Izuku, Riolu, and All Might.  

Aizawa and Thirteen had been frantically rushed off-scene by an ambulance, their pokemon put into pokeballs to preserve their safety.  Izuku dearly hoped that his teachers would turn out okay in the end.

As for himself, he was with All Might and Recovery Girl, secluded from the rest of their class.  Not only was All Might well past his limit and stuck in his powered-down form, but Izuku also had repercussions of One For All on his body that he couldn’t afford for his class to know about. 

Then, there was the things he needed to talk to All Might about.  So much had happened in those last few minutes, Izuku was having trouble keeping track of it all in his head.   There was the new development with how he and Riolu had used One for All, there aws Izuku’s concern for his mentor, but then there was Mew.

Izuku hadn’t told anyone about Mew yet.  Not All Might, not his mother, nobody. Yet, he’d been forced to reveal his little friend when they were trapped on the boat, and Tsu and Mineta had been there to lay witness.  Not to mention the fact that Uraraka and Todoroki had both gotten a clear, close up view of One for All in action. Pokemon moving unnaturally fast and arcing green lightning wasn’t something you saw every day.  

Izuku was sure that those four people would have questions for him, save for maybe Mineta.  The boy didn’t seem to care about much other than boobs and girls, so Izuku was probably safe on that regard.  The other three, however, would almost certainly ask questions. Uraraka at least was guaranteed to ask him questions. 

Mew had disappeared after its little appearance by the boat.  At some point between leaving the lake disaster area and arriving to the main battle, it had left, almost like it was okay with fighting regular villains, but for some reason it was scared of the main villains.  

“I’ll take Riolu to go get healed up.” Recovery Girl said, tearing Izuku from his thoughts.

“Hmm? Oh!” Izuku grabbed his partner’s pokeball from his belt and handed it to the old woman.  She was a miracle worker, but she wasn’t perfect, she’d need all of her equipment in order to heal Riolu up. Recovery girl nodded to him before turning to All Might.

“You two are probably good to go.  Just be more careful next time,” she turned to Izuku, “I put your arm in a splint, but it’s probably going to take a couple of weeks to fully heal.  In that time, be extra careful.” Izuku nodded in response. While Riolu’s injury would be much easier to heal, Izuku’s was going to have to heal just like every other human on the planet. 

Recovery girl walked off, heading back towards wherever she had her little place set up.  All Might didn’t speak immediately, instead, he sat on a metal bench nearby, patting the spot next to him. Izuku obeyed, sitting down.

“The buses aren’t going to be leaving for at least a few minutes, so we have some time to talk.” All Might looked over to his pupil, “I can tell you have some things on your mind.”   Izuku scratched the back of his neck nervously. Was he really that easy to read?

“Yeah, I guess you can say that.” Izuku took a deep breath, fidgeting with the sling his arm was in currently, “I guess I’ll start from the beginning.” 

“First of all, I think that a few people may have seen One for All in action.  Specifically Tsuyu, Mineta, Uraraka, and Todoroki. When we were fighting the villain, it was about to attack me, and nobody was going to make it in time to stop the attack.  I had to use One for All.” Izuku stopped, slowing down to catch his breath. He looked to All Might, expecting some sort of disappointed expression, but instead, he was met with indifference.

All Might sighed, “Midoriya, my boy, that’s what you were worried about?”   He let out a hearty laugh, “While it will be a challenge to come up with an explanation, it’s really not that big of a deal.  You did what you had to in the situation you were presented with, and I can’t blame you for that. I’m sure we can come up with a solution for how we can explain it to your classmates.”   

“Really? So you’re not mad that I may have exposed One for All to four other people?”

All Might shook his head, “Not at all.  I’m just happy you are all safe.” Izuku let out the breath he’d been holding, a weight lifted from his chest.  

“Okay, well that’s good to hear.” Izuku sighed, before moving onto the next topic of conversation, “Something was different this time.  I think it was the way that Riolu and I used One for All. It felt like I slipped into One for All rather than using it, if that makes any sense? The point is, It felt a lot more like what you and Lucario have.  Riolu moved faster and hit harder, and we didn’t injure ourselves by attacking.” 

All Might nodded, “One for All isn’t like using a move.  That must be how you were thinking of it, as a move, just like as if you were using something like force palm.  It’s a possibility that when you were in a time of panic, you just let the ability take its course, that is, you let it work like it was supposed to.” All Might ruffled Izuku’s hair, “You’re making progress, my boy, I’m proud of you.”

Izuku’s eyes lit up like christmas trees. All Might? Proud of him?  _ This day has turned from the worst day  ever to the best day ever. _

“Okay there’s one more thing.”  All Might looked him in the eyes, expectant, “All Might, have you ever heard of a pink pokemon that kinda looks like a mouse, but also not, that has a long tail and floats?  Whenever it says something, all that it says is ‘Mew’?” 

All Might put his finger to his chin, thinking.  A few moments passed before he shook his head.

“That doesn’t ring a bell.  Why do you ask, my boy?”   
_So he doesn’t know.  What_ is _mew then?_

“Ah...umm, it’s nothing.  Nevermind.” All Might looked at Izuku with a look of slight concern for a moment.  Izuku knew that All Might could tell that he was lying. Luckily, his mentor decided to drop it. 

“Okay then.” All Might looked down at his watch, “Oh, the buses are about to leave.  You had better get going!” He gave Izuku a little nudge. Izuku followed the push and stood up from the bench, starting to make his way to where the buses were.

“Midoriya?” All Might said.  Izuku turned back over his shoulder to see All Might smiling, “You did well today, don’t forget that.   It's not any day that you survive a run-in with dangerous villains.” 

Izuku smiled back at his mentor.  If this is what it took to become a hero, then he’d fight villains like those every day.  

  
  


All of the students had a teacher escort them directly home as to avoid some sort of attack on anyone.  Ochako had gotten Midnight, and  _ oh boy _ was she and interesting character.  She was still in her hero costume as she drove, and Ochako couldn’t help but look over and wonder,  _ That suit can’t be comfortable.  The way it molds to her… _ she stopped thinking there.  It wasn’t her business anyways.

“Are all of your pokemon okay? It seems like they’re all with you.” Midnight gestured to Ochako’s belt.  

Ochako nodded, “Nobody was hurt luckily.  I don’t think very many pokemon had to stay overnight.” Ochako’s hand instinctively rested on Eevee’s ball.  Eevee had been the only one almost injured out of her team. Ochako had been so scared in that moment. The Nomu had almost gotten to Eevee, but then...Riolu had been there.  And Riolu had been injured because of it.

“It seems like Deku is always saving me…” Ochako mumbled subconsciously.

“Deku?” Ochako looked up, only then realizing she had said that out loud.

“Oh, I mean Midoriya.  He was the one that saved Togekiss during the exam, and now he saved Eevee.” She sighed, “It’s kinda ironic how I’m at the school trainin’ to become a hero, yet Deku is always comin’ in to save the day when I mess up.”  She could feel herself slipping into her accent, which meant she was tired. Frankly, she didn’t really care right now.

“How does that make you feel?” Midnight asked.  Ochako turned to look at the older hero.  _ Is this like a counseling session? _

“Well...I don’t know.  Deku is just so amazing.  He’s always runnin’ in to help people, even if he’s hurt.  He gets down on himself all the time and it’s over the littlest things, it sucks to see him like that, but when he needs to smile he does. I don’t know if I’ll ever be like that…” 

Midnight snorted, “You’re training to be a hero, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah, of course! I’m in the hero-”

“Being in the hero course doesn’t automatically mean you’re training to be a hero.” Midnight interrupted.  Ochako tilted her head, so she continued, “You said that Midoriya is always being the hero, right? Next time, don’t give him the chance to come save you.  Start training outside of class to get better, so that next time, you can be the one saving him. The school’s motto isn’t ‘Go beyond, Plus Ultra!’ for nothing, you know.” 

Ochako glanced down at her feet.    _ Next time, don’t give him the chance to come save you. _ The words echoed in her mind.  It wasn’t a bad idea. In fact, she’d been planning on training outside of school anyways, so this was just an extra reason to start.

“So, you really admire that Midoriya kid, huh?” 

Ochako hummed, “I’m not sure if admire is the right word for it.  He’s really my best friend.” 

“He’s your best friend after only a few weeks in school?” Ochako shook her head.

“We actually met at the entrance exam.  I saved him from tripping, and we became friends from there.  We’ve been in touch pretty closely since then.” Ochako’s cheeks flushed slightly for a moment.  It probably wasn’t that noticeable, since she normally had a soft blush plastered onto her face.

Midnight hummed, “Well, what do you like about him?”  Her tone of voice said she was up to something.

“Well,” Ochako started cautiously, “I-umm, well, you see…”

“There’s too much to say?” Midnight said with a smug smile on her face.

“W-well, I guess?”  Ochako answered, “He’s just so...great?  He tries his best at everything, especially when it comes to being a hero.  I mean, back there, whatever that monster was, it was horrifying. When it attacked, I froze up.  Everyone froze up. Except Deku. He was the only one that fought back. And it kills me when he bottles everything up to try to not make you worry, but you know he’s struggling anyways.  I just wish I could help him more, ya know?” The words just kinda flowed from Ochako’s mouth, and Midnight didn’t interrupt her.

“Then, there’s the other small things.  Like how he asks how my day was, or when he nerds out about either heroes or pokemon, it’s honestly really cute.  Sometimes when I’m around him, I just feel a little happier.” she continued. 

Ochako didn’t even realize that they’d arrived at her apartment until she felt the car pulling to a halt, “Oh, I must’ve started rambling, huh? She moved to unbuckle her seatbelt and get out of the car.

“Hey, Uraraka?” Midnight said from inside after Ochako had left the car. Ochako turned back to see her teacher with an incredibly smug smile on her face.

“Yes?” Ochako asked.

Midnight winked, “Love doesn’t last forever, act on it while you still can.” With that, she slammed on the gas and was gone before Ochako even had time to process what she said.  

Then, the words sunk in.

“L-Love!?” Ochako’s face flashed to a bright pink.

 

Izuku’s mother shed at least two bucket’s worth of tears when he got home.  She wailed about how happy she was that he was okay, and that she didn’t know what she would do if something had happened to him.  The only reason he got her to separate from him was to tell her that his right arm was broken and she couldn’t strain it too much.

It was only seven in the evening, but he was already feeling exhausted, and rightfully so.  A lot had happened over the course of the last few hours. Izuku ate dinner in a hurry, wanting nothing more than to crash on his bed and fall asleep.  He opened his door and-

Of course.  He didn’t get to go to bed yet. There, in the middle of the room, floating, was Mew.  

_ You always either show up at the most convenient or most inconvenient times _ Izuku thought, shutting the door behind him.   He set his things down on the desk, walking around Mew.  He crashed onto his bed nonchalantly.

Mew floated over and took up a spot next to Izuku, floating to the ground and curling up on the ground.  Izuku scrolled through his phone for a few moments.

“You’re back again.” He finally said.  He just saw Mew’s ears twitch a little.  Eventually, it nodded its head. It looked tired, like it was going to sleep right on the floor.  With a sigh, Izuku heaved himself off of his bed, going to his closed.

As he opened the closet, Mew shuffled, opening its eyes and lifting its head curiously.  Izuku grabbed a couple of his spare pillows and closed the closet, turning around. He motioned for his hand for Mew to move, and luckily it obliged.  Izuku set down the pillows on the ground and climbed back onto his bed. Mew looked at him curiously.

“If you don’t want them, I can put them back.” Izuku said nervously, scratching the back of his head, “I just thought that you’d want something a little more comfy to sleep on.” 

Mew its head curiously, “Mew!” it thanked him, retaking its position on the ground, except this time it was curled up on top of the pillows. 

As Izuku started to fall asleep, he couldn’t help but think about Mew and what was actually going on.  It was starting to spend more and more time with him, even sleeping in his room now. It obviously was friendly towards him, and Izuku didn’t mind.  In fact, he liked to think that Mew was his friend in general. 

Then there was its demonstration of power today at the USJ.  It had taken out all of the villains in one fell swoop, and it didn’t even seem phased afterwards.  How did Mew have that much power? 

Izuku didn’t bother trying to keep himself up thinking about these types of things.  Everything would most likely become apparent eventually, and he was exhausted. He succumbed to the lures of sleep within minutes.

 

Ochako woke up reluctantly to the sound of her alarm at five in the morning.  She slapped the alarm off and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Then, she remembered what she had planned for today and shot up, full of energy.  She hopped out of bed, getting dressed in workout clothes. 

She knew all of her pokemon were still asleep. They were just like her, usually waiting until the last possible minute to get up and not be late.  Today was different, however. After Midnight dropped her off at her apartment the previous night, Ochako had stayed up thinking about what the hero had said.  Or at least, the first part. She didn’t even want to think about the second part, it was all too confusing and hurt her head.

She’d made a decision that night, though.  She was going to start getting up early and start training before class. Training not only her pokemon, but herself as well.  

She went into the little mini-kitchen portion of her apartment and grabbed out a frying pan and a metal ladle.  She walked into the center of the room and started banging them together, making as much noise as possible.

“Up and at ‘em, it’s morning!” She yelled.  She heard three separate groans from the bedroom and she smiled.  She hit the cooking equipment together a few more times, and a couple moments later, her three pokemon walked out of her bedroom, looking tired.  Eevee even looked slightly annoyed. 

The entire living room was already cleared, the furniture moved to the edges of the room in order to give enough space for what she had planned. 

“Welcome to Ochako’s Pokemon Training Regimen!” She said in her best imitation of a drill sergeant, “Today marks the first day of my rigorous training regimen!  Battle training! Stamina training! Strength Training! All of it!” 

Looking over the expressions of her pokemon, Ochako noticed a divide in the levels of enthusiasm.  Eevee looked annoyed that she had to be up so early, but that was probably due to the fact that she acted like a spoiled brat half of the time.  On the complete other side of the spectrum, Togekiss looked  _ ecstatic _ .  The gleam in her eyes was so visible that it was almost comical.

“Alright, team! This is our first mission! We are going to go on a morning run together! Let’s go!” She said, turning towards the door. Luckily, all of her pokemon followed, even if it was reluctantly from Eevee.  

  
  


Izuku woke up naturally instead of to his alarm.   Groaning and sitting up, he saw that it was just about to be five, when he normally woke up anyways.  He was feeling extra full of energy, which made sense considering that he’d gotten a solid ten hours of sleep. 

Even still, getting up wasn’t always the easiest, and Izuku fell backwards, letting his arm drape down off the edge of the bed.  As he let his right arm relax, he scrolled through hero news with the other. 

That is, he did until he noticed something odd.  His right hand was touching something oddly soft and...warm?  Looking down, Izuku saw Mew, still curled up and asleep, but his hand resting right on top of it.

“Ah!” Izuku yelled, pulling his arm back like he’d been bitten.  Mew must have heard his sudden panicked cry, because it twitched in its sleep, before slowly opening its eyes and looking up towards Izuku.  

_ I was touching it and...I’m okay? _ His heart was pounding like crazy, but that was probably due to his nerves.  Mew floated up from its little bed on the floor and took up a spot in the air in front of Izuku, tilting its head curiously.

He was fine with touching Mew.  Maybe something had changed? What if everything had changed?

Tentatively, Izuku reached out a hand towards the pink pokemon.  He closed his eyes in fear of what might happen, but then...nothing.  His hand came into contact with the pink pokemon and he felt...nothing?

Izuku opened his eyes to see his hand resting softly on Mew’s head, who also looked at him with confusion.

_ I’m doing it!  _  Izuku couldn’t help but squeal with joy.  He was touching a pokemon that wasn’t Riolu!  Izuku ran his hand down Mew’s back, and the pokemon responded by happily humming. 

Izuku left for his run fifteen minutes late because he spent far too long petting Mew.

  
  


Ochako only got about three-quarters of the way through the run she had planned out.  Not only because Clefairy looked like it was dying, the poor thing, but also because she was drenched in sweat.  She ended the jog by taking a turn into the same park that she’d eaten lunch with Izuku at a few days ago. 

Ochako crashed against one of the trees, taking out her water bottle and downing the entire thing in one go.  She was  _ exhausted _ .  Why did running have to be so difficult?

“T-that’s,” Ochako took a breath mid-sentence, trying to catch up on air, “That’s the first part done!” She said triumphantly, slumping against the tree. She probably hadn’t spaced out the training right if she was already this tired.  She had no idea what she was doing, after all. 

Clefairy had barely made it through the run alive, from the looks of it.  The little pink pokemon had much shorter legs, and thus, had to try a whole lot harder than everyone else just to keep up.  Ochako was proud of her for making it though. 

Ochako pulled out her phone and looked at what she had next up.

“Oh-kay!” She said, standing back up, “Next up is-”

“Uraraka?” Someone called, interrupting her.  Looking around, she saw the origin of the voice.  It was Izuku, who had just taken a pair of earbuds out of his ears from where he was standing on the sidewalk a few meters away.

“Deku! Hey!”  She said, waving.   He started walking over, smiling back.

“What are you doing here so early?” He asked.

“Oh, this?” she blushed a little, “I decided to start training on my own so I don’t fall behind!” Izuku actually let out a little chuckle.

“Funny, that’s why I’m out so early as well.  Though, it is weird going on my run without Riolu here.  He’s usually the one that I go running with in the morning.” Izuku started muttering before looking up, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to start rambling…”

Ochako just gave him a big smile.  _ Cute _

…

_ Wait, what? _ Ochako felt her face go pink, and she dearly hoped that it wasn’t visible with how dark it was out still.  

“I-It’s fine!” She stammered out.  She tried to force herself to calm down, trying again.  “I guess I kinda bit off more than I could chew today, though.  Got a little ambitious and tried for ten kilometers.” 

Izuku blanched, “Ten Kilometers on your first day?  I only started with three!” Uraraka scratched the back of her head nervously, laughing a little.

“I guess I’m pretty lost when it comes to this type of thing…” She mumbled.

“I could make a training plan for you, if you’d like,”

That shocked Ochako, “What?”

Izuku nodded sincerely, “I still have my copy of my training plan.  I could adapt it for you in a couple hours, no problem! We could even train together a little bit!”  

_ He’s so thoughtful _ … Ochako thought.

Ochako waved her hand, “I-I couldn’t trouble you with that.” Izuku immediately shook his head.

“Please, I insist.  I think it’ll be fun, and plus, training together could be really helpful.  Heroes have to work together a lot so it could be good that way, too.” He said.

Ochako felt her heart jump.  He was just so nice and thoughtful, not to mention nerdy. She smiled, nodding.

“If you insist, then sure! Let’s start training!” She pumped her fist into the air triumphantly.  He tentatively shot his fist into the air as well. Ochako couldn’t help but look at him and smile.

_ Love doesn’t last forever, act on it while you still can.  _ Midnight’s words echoed in Ochako’s mind, and her heart jumped up to her throat.  A feeling welled up inside her stomach that she couldn’t quite describe, but in that moment, she knew something for certain.

...

_ I’m in love, aren’t I? _ Even as she thought the words, she knew they were true.  She felt her face warming up, getting hotter than it had been before.

Ochako feigned looking at her phone, “Whoops! I forgot I have something this morning and I’m gonna run late!” She said, spinning on her heel, “Let’s go, everybody! Time to leave!” She said, starting to jog away, hoping and praying that her pokemon would follow.

As Ochako ran away without looking back, she knew one more thing for certain.

_ I’m in love, _ she thought,

_ But I can’t let him know that. _


	17. The Sports Festival

**The Sports Festival**

_ AKA the chapter where I try to explain as many things as possible before the sports festival arc starts, as well as get in some ship fuel.  Also, this first half may feel a little dull, and that’s mostly because it’s going to be used as a transition for the next mini-arc between now and the sports festival. _

* * *

  
  


“Riolu!” Izuku said, rushing into Recovery Girls office as soon as he got to school. The pokemon was sitting at the edge of the bed, facing towards the wall.  At the sound of Izuku’s voice, Riolu turned around, and his expression lightened as soon as he saw Izuku.

Riolu rushed forwards, as if he were going to tackle Izuku, but was promptly stopped by a smack on the top of the head by Recovery Girl’s cane, “He still has a broken arm, you know.  Your trainer isn’t as easy to heal as you are.” Izuku just bent down, cradling his injured arm.

“It’s nice to see you, buddy!” Izuku said, patting his pokemon on the head.  Izuku felt just that much safer being able to be with his partner again, even if he was in a pokeball most of the time.  Realistically, he was safe most of the time anyways, at least relatively speaking, as Mew had been there since the USJ event, and hadn’t left.

Well, saying it hadn’t left was probably wrong.  Mew tended to randomly wander off, but it always eventually came back around.  Right now was one of those times. Who knew what the pink pokemon was getting into.

Izuku thanked Recovery Girl and recalled Riolu to his ball before heading to class.  There was a lot that was on his mind as he walked to the 1-a classroom. First off, who would be teaching class today, because it certainly wasn’t going to be Mister Aizawa. Secondly, there was the training regimen he’d promised to adapt for Ochako earlier that morning.  Surely that wouldn’t be much of a problem, so he wasn’t that worried. Lastly, though, was all of the  _ confusing _ things that was going on with Mew and One for All.

Izuku had wondered if Mew had been somehow related to the strange ability, but it seems he was proven wrong by All Might’s ignorance on the topic.  Something was up with Mew, and he’d have to get to the bottom of it. Then, there’d been his realization that morning.

Mew was the first pokemon outside of Riolu that he’d been able to touch without going into a panicked episode.  It was a huge step, to say the least. Part of it was probably due to his familiarity with Mew by now, that knowledge in the back of his mind that Mew wouldn’t hurt him.  The only bad part of the situation is that he couldn’t tell anyone about his progress without exposing Mew.

That wasn’t where the complications stopped, though.  No, far from it. He still had to figure out what he was going to say to Tsuyu and Mineta if they asked, and he was sure that Tsuyu at the very least would approach him.  Mineta didn’t seem like he was interested in anything more than his perverted fantasies. 

He also had to come up with an explanation for what to say to Uraraka and Todoroki, if they asked about what was going on with Izuku’s injury.  They also probably saw first hand the green sparks that had been cackling off of Riolu. That in itself would probably be an problem, since All Might didn’t seem to emit energy when he and Lucario used One for All. 

Izuku finally made it to the classroom, pushing the hulking door open with his good arm. 

“Hey Midoriya!” Kirishima said from across the room.  A few other murmurs of greeting were heard from the rest of the room, and for some reason it made Izuku’s mind jump.  Everything was so...normal, especially after yesterday’s events. Nobody else even had any injuries besides himself, from the look of it. 

Izuku looked around the class, looking over everyone just to be sure they were all okay like he thought.  When his eyes met Uraraka’s, she immediately turned away, looking at the wall. Izuku tilted his head.

_ Odd _ he thought, before shaking the thought and heading to his seat.

“I wonder who’s going to teach today!” Kaminari said, “It can’t be Mister Aizawa.”

“Probably the principal.  I’ve heard he steps in when teachers need it.” Kirishima suggested.  Suddenly, the bell rang and everyone headed directly to their seats . When someone walked in the door, nobody was expecting to see a mummy.

Or, rather, nobody was expecting to see their teacher walk into the room, covered head to toe in bandages.  The entire room sat in stunned silence as Aizawa walked in, taking up a spot at the front of the room.

_ At least he has a strong sense of duty _

“We have a few announcements to go over this morning,” Aizawa’s muffled voice came, completely ignoring the elephant in the room, “I’m sure all of you know that the Yuuei Sports Festival is coming up.” 

Murmurs spread through the room,  Izuku couldn’t believe that that he’d forgotten about the sports festival.  It was understandable, considering what all had been going on throughout the last few days, but Izuku had watched every single sports festival from when he was born.

“Things will be continuing as normal.  The school cannot show weakness to a single villain attack, so events will continue as planned.   Two weeks from now marks the first day of events. I recommend that you all prepare to the best of your ability, as many 

_ Two weeks _ Izuku thought,  _ Two weeks to train _ .

The entire class burst out into loud yelling almost immediately. 

“I’m going to train so much!” Kirishima yelled, “Let the manliest win!” 

Suddenly, an idea came to mind.  Izuku searched around the room for Uraraka.  It wasn’t long before he found her and…

_ Wow, that looks intense. _ If Izuku didn’t know any better, he’d say that she was emitting pure intensity.  Izuku could see the determination in her eyes. She punched her fist into the air, grumbling in a deep voice, “Plus ultra!” 

“Wow...Uraraka looks fired up.” Izuku heard Iida say.  Izuku turned to look at his friend. Izuku just nodded.

“She’s really getting into it, not that that’s a bad thing.” Izuku said.  Uraraka had just gone up to another group of people, barging her way in and yellin ‘Plus Ultra’ again.  Izuku snickered at her ridiculousness,  _ I suppose I could ask her another time. _

As if to seal the deal, the bell to go to the next class rang.  With a sigh, Izuku picked up his bag, heading to the door. Looking up, Izuku wasn’t met with a open space like he’d been expecting.  Instead, there was a massive crowd of people blocking the door.

“Huh?” Izuku blurted out.  At the forefront of the group was a boy with dark purple hair.  He had sinking bags under his eyes, and in general just looked  _ tired,  _ “Can I help you?”

The boy didn’t say anything, just looking Izuku up and down.  Izuku tilted his head, “Why are you all here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” An angry voice said, “They’re scoping out the competition.” 

Bakugo pushed his way to the front of the group, a scowl on his face, “It’s not like it matters anyways.  I’m going to win, no matter what these extras do. Now, get the hell out of my way.”

The group of students just looked at Bakugo, some frowning at him, some just looking at him in confusion.  Still, the crowd parted, letting the blonde boy through. 

“Sorry abou-”

“Tch, makes sense that the hero course would be full of themselves.  Apparently fighting off some little villains makes you the top dogs.” The purple haired boy interrupted Izuku’s apology.  

Izuku normally wasn’t an angry person.  Yet, when the boy said that, something  _ clicked _ inside of Izuku.  It was like someone flipped a switch on his emotions.

“Excuse me?” Izuku said, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. The boy just met Izuku’s eyes, before sighing.

“Based on how the general course students do at the sports festival, they might be considered for transfer into the hero course.  I came here to make a declaration. I’ll show you that you’re not that much better than the rest of us by taking your place in the hero course.” The boy turned to walk away.

“We didn’t ask to get attacked by villains, you know.” Izuku said.  The boy stopped walking.

“What?” 

Izuku kept his head, “You said that we act like we’re better than all of you because what happened at the USJ.  Did anyone ever actually say that? We didn’t ask to get attacked by villains. Or was it just all an excuse to make you feel better about being an asshole?”

Izuku didn’t wait to see his response.  He just started to walk away, following the path Bakugo had taken.  He didn’t know why that boy made him so angry, but Izuku needed some time to cool down.

* * *

 

The rest of the school hours went on as normal.  The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, and everyone started to clear out, heading home.  Izuku’s day, however, was far from over.

“Midoriya, a word.” Aizawa said, motioning for Izuku as he was about to leave.  Izuku stopped in his tracks, turning to his bandaged teacher. 

Aizawa cleared his throat before speaking, “I wanted to give you an update on the situation you brought to the school’s attention a couple of weeks ago.”

_ Situation? What sit- _ Izuku realized.

“The one with Eri?” Izuku asked, instantly perking up.  Any information he could get on the situation he would take, “Did they find her? Is she okay? What-”

“Calm down, Midoriya.” Aizawa cut him off.  Izuku closed his mouth. After a long pause, Aizawa continued, “There has been a lead on the entire situation.  Long story short, there’s a hero agency in the area that is investigating it. If you do well enough in the sports festival, you may be able to get an invitation to work with them afterwards.  You might want to look into that. That is all.”

Izuku gulped, nodding.  He knew he  _ needed _ to get that invitation, no matter what.  He  _ needed _ to fulfill his promise.  

“Mister Aizawa?” Izuku said as he turned to leave, “What hero agency is it?”

Aizawa didn’t answer immediately.  Izuku wondered if perhaps the hero had fallen asleep again, so he turned around. Aizawa just looked back at him, and he seemed to be pondering something.  He seemed to make a decision, because he shifted.

“The hero is Sir Nighteye.” The name sounded familiar, but Izuku couldn’t put his finger on it.

* * *

 

Izuku thanked Aizawa and left the classroom, only to be met with another familiar face.

“Young Midoriya, you asked if we could meet today?” All Might was in his powered-up form, Lucario standing next to him.  

“Y-yeah!” Izuku said, nodding, “Though, we might want to meet somewhere a little more private.” All Might nodded knowingly, leading the way down the hallway.  

As soon as they made it into the teacher’s lounge, All Might disappeared with a puff of smoke, transforming into his normal form.  He let out a sigh of relief, “It’s been harder and harder to maintain that form.”

Izuku immediately felt his mood darken.   _ He  _ was the reason that All Might was having problems.  All Might seemed to notice the dark expression Izuku wore.

“Don’t worry about me, Young Midoriya.”  All Might said. Izuku just let out a sigh.  It was hard  _ not  _ to blame himself, at least a little, for All Might’s weakening.   They sat in silence for a moment, each waiting for the other to speak first.

“So,” Izuku finally said, “The sports festival is coming up.” 

All Might let out a hearty laugh, “Ah yes, I remember.  It seemed easy to forget about with all the recent events, has it not?” Izuku nodded in agreement.

Izuku let out a breath, deciding not to hold back anymore. He couldn’t take the awkward tension in the air, “I’m worried about it.  Not only because it’s such a high-stakes event, but also because I don’t want to accidentally do something  _ wrong _ .” 

“What could you do wrong?” 

“I don’t have control over One for All yet.  If I use it, I’m worried that I might end up exposing the secret.  Yet, if I don’t use it, I won’t be able to do as well as I possibly could have.”  Izuku let out in a single breath. He looked down at his feet, “I don’t know what to do.”

Suddenly, he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.  He looked up to see All Might smiling back at him, “We have two weeks to train for the festival, do we not?” 

Izuku tilted his head, “Train for...you mean train me? Isn’t that like...showing favoritism or something?”

All Might boomed with laughter, “Let’s just say...when I’m like this,” he gestured to his body, “I’m not All Might the teacher, the professional hero.  I’m All Might the eighth holder of One for All. Not only is it my duty to see you along as you grow into a young hero, but it is also my wish as your mentor.” 

Izuku didn’t know why he was so surprised.  It all made sense, but for some reason, he couldn’t wrap his hand around it all.

“Does after school at the training grounds sound alright by you?”

Izuku gulped, “Umm...yeah that works.” 

All Might nodded, “Good.  The sports festival is an opportunity unlike any other.  It’s your first chance to get your name out there, and nobody should be holding back. It’s your opportunity to tell the world ‘I am here’.”

“I am here.” Izuku echoed.  If he didn’t feel the pressure before, he surely did now.

“Plus, we can’t have you blowing yourself up every time you and Riolu try to use One for All.”  All Might laughed. 

“There was one more thing,” Izuku said, the idea coming to mind just before he left, “Do you know a hero that goes by the name of Sir Nighteye?”

All Might’s expression immediately darkened, and Izuku knew instantly that he’d brought back some memories that the older hero would have rather not been brought back up.  

“I know him, yes, why do you ask?” All Might said, tone flat.  Izuku couldn’t read what he was thinking very well.

“Well, it’s just that...well, his agency is the one that is investigating the situation with Eri, so I was hoping to do well at the festival so that I can go work with them and help get Eri back.” Izuku said.  All Might’s dark expression lightened, but Izuku saw his lips purse.

“All the more reason to do well, eh?” He said finally.  Izuku tilted his head.

“Do you know him?” Izuku asked.  He could tell that All Might knew very well who the hero was, he just wasn’t saying anything.

All Might let out a sigh, standing up from the couch, “That is a story for another time.  For now, how about you head on home and get some rest?” 

Izuku knew he wasn’t going to get anything more out of his mentor, not when he was like this.  Giving in, Izuku nodded. He at least got one thing out of the way for today, now only two more things to go.

* * *

 

Izuku made it home on one of the late trains, and his mother instantly threw her arms around him when he stepped in the door, “Izuku! You didn’t tell me when that you wouldn’t be on the first train back today!” she chastised him, “I was worried you might be hurt!”

_ Whoops _ Izuku thought, “Nope, I’m all good.  Just had a few things to take care of after school is all.  Speaking of, I the sports festival is coming up, so I’ll be taking the late bus back home some days.” His mother nodded in acknowledgement. 

Izuku wasn’t surprised to see Mew waiting for him in his room.  Riolu, on the other hand, eyed the pink pokemon with caution.

“Riolu, it’s fine.  Mew’s been around since yesterday, and practically hasn’t left.” Izuku assured his partner.  Then, he got an excited feeling in his heart, “In fact, look at this!”

Izuku tentatively reached forwards and patted Mew on the top of its head, “I can touch it, look!” 

Riolu had a smug expression on his face, and Izuku could tell, even if he played it off as being indifferent, he was proud.  Izuku smiled, before crashing into his computer chair. 

Adapting his training program from All Might wasn’t that difficult. He lowered the intensity slightly, as he doubted Uraraka would be going for the same type of improvement that he had to go for.  He removed all of the workouts that usually happened during meals and homework, and replaced all of the ‘beach time’ with less-vigorous strength training. 

When he finally had his finished product, he printed off the file, and got out his phone to text Uraraka.

* * *

 

Ochako was cooking herself dinner when her phone buzzed.

“Clefairy, could you grab that for me?” Ochako asked, still tossing the ingredients to her stir fry.  The pink little pokemon hopped off of the couch and went over, grabbing Ochako’s phone and waddling over with it. 

“Thank you!” She said, grabbing her phone and checking the messages.

_ ‘I got your training program done, where do you want to meet to pick it up?’ _ Izuku’s message read.  Ochako let out a sigh. Of course he made it on the first day.  It seemed like something he’d do.

She dried off her hands and picked up her phone to respond.

_ ‘Tomorrow morning in the same place?’ _ She typed back, and just before she hit send, she reconsidered.  The park was pretty far away from both of their apartments, so it didn’t really make sense to meet there.

_ ‘The station we usually meet at to go to school at the same time as the park this morning?’ _ Ochako typed back instead.  

The reply was instant.

_ ‘Sure.’  _

Ochako put her phone down and went back to cooking.  Even such a simple interaction with Izuku, over the phone no less, was a struggle.  Every time she talked to him, her heart fluttered, and she  _ hated it _ .

She didn’t have time for romance,  and it wasn’t like he’d want her back anyways.  Even so, the heart didn’t listen to the mind. Every time she talked to him, her heart fluttered, and she didn’t want to be anywhere else, doing anything else.

By now she’d accepted it.  She’d fallen for Izuku, and she’d fallen  _ hard _ .  The problem was, her heart and her mind didn’t agree.  Her heart wanted her to pursue Izuku, to pursue what would make her happy. 

Her mind, on the other hand, knew what was best.  In general, it was dangerous for heroes to get into relationships.  Being in a relationship meant that each of them could be used as leverage by any villain, and tended to end up bad in the long run.  Not only that, but she also knew they didn’t have  _ time _ to focus on anything but training and becoming heroes.  

Even still, she couldn’t help but let her heart take over every time Izuku was around.  She was able to keep her poker face and stay calm most of the time, but she wasn’t sure that it would stay like that.  She could already feel it getting harder and harder, ever since she accepted her feelings. 

With a sigh, Ochako turned back to her dinner, not wanting to burn it. It was a distraction from the real problem, but it was a necessary one. 

* * *

 

Izuku woke up bright and early the next morning, just like normal.  He got up and ready as fast as he could without waking his mother up, and headed out, stack of papers in hand.  Mew didn’t wake up this time, but Riolu accompanied him on the run, just like normal.

Izuku headed down to the station that Uraraka agreed to meet at.  He sat down at a bench, waiting for his friend to arrive.

“Deku!” he heard a voice call. Izuku wheeled around, searching for the origin of the familiar voice.  He turned to see Uraraka, running towards him…

Only for his entire mind to go blank.  Uraraka was walking towards him, smiling and waving. That wouldn’t be a problem, except for what she was wearing.  It was simple, but that was the problem.

She was wearing what seemed to be a thin crop top over a sports bra, one that cut off with just enough room to show off her stomach.  His eyes drifted downwards and he caught sight of her shorts, almost dying all over again. Shorts that were far shorter than they had any right to be.  He hadn’t seen such a large quantity of  _ thigh  _ in one spot.

“U-U-uhhh…” Izuku tried to greet her back, but the words wouldn’t come out.

_ Izuku.exe has stopped working _

“Hey Deku!” Uraraka said again, coming to a stop next to him.  

Izuku just looked at her again, his mind blank.  He wasn’t touching any pokemon was he? No, that wasn’t right.  He just wasn’t used to...so much skin. 

“Y-Yeah I-I’m okay! I’m okay!” he stuttered out.   Uraraka tilted her head, putting a finger to her lips.

“You look really red, are you okay?” She asked.  Izuku vigorously nodded, bringing up his on good hand defensively.

“I’m okay!” In his panic, he hadn’t realized his water bottle was in his hand, and when he’d thrown his hands up, the water bottle had gone with it, sailing from his hand. It landed on the ground a few meters away, spilling onto the concrete.

_ Whoops _ Izuku thought, scrambling to pick up the mess. Unfortunately, almost all of his water had spilled out.

“Well that’ll be fun.” Izuku saidm standing back up and turning around.  He forced himself to keep his composure as he looked at Uraraka this time.  Izuku heard a snort from somewhere, and when he looked down, he saw that it originated from Riolu. He had an extremely smug look on his face.

Izuku shot him a glare, as if to say,  _ oh cut it out. _ Riolu’s response was just to start lightly laughing.

“Do you have any more water?” Uraraka asked.  Izuku just shook his head, sighing. Uraraka hummed, “Well, good thing I brought extra!”

Izuku gulped, “Let’s get started, shall we?” Maybe running would get his mind off of...well, if he thought about it again, he might just implode.

* * *

 

Running, like normal, let Izuku take his mind off of things.  Not only the...thighs, but also everything that had gone on recently. Running was a way for him to get out of his own mind, only having to focus on the constant pounding of his feet on the ground.  

He ran the route he’d mapped out that morning.  They mostly stuck to main roads, Izuku not wanting to go to back alleys if he could avoid it, and weaved up and down the town.  The run ended at the same park that they’d ended at last time, as it was a good area to cool down. They could sit under the tree and re-hydrate, talking about…

_ Why am I thinking about that part? _ Izuku shook his head, clearing his thoughts. They finally made it to the park, slowing their pace.  

“Ugh!” Uraraka groaned, collapsing onto the ground and leaning up against the tree, “I’m beat!”

“It’s not good to stop moving right away, you know, you could get cramps.” Izuku noted.  Uraraka just frowned.

“I don’t care at this point.  I just need to rest…” She patted the ground next to her, “Come sit with me.”

With a sigh, Izuku obliged, plopping himself down on the ground right next to the tree.  A little ways away, Riolu had taken a seat, lounging on the grass. Uraraka’s Togekiss was perched in the tree, and Clefairy was leaning up against the tree on the other side of Uraraka, looking just as tired as her trainer. Eevee was nowhere to be found.

Izuku looked around for the little pokemon, forcing his eyes to glaze over Uraraka’s outfit yet again.  He eventually spotted the pokemon, marching across the field towards the group.

“She’s not gonna be very happy.  She’s probably angry we made her sweat.” Uraraka mumbled, and Izuku laughed.  “She’s such a brat.”

To their surprise, Eevee didn’t walk to them right away.  It got about halfway there, then it veered off to the side.  Eevee walked over to where Riolu was staring at the sky, sitting down on the grass next to him.

“That’s odd.” Izuku muttered.  Uraraka hummed in agreement.

“I think Eevee’s wanted to thank Riolu for saving her at the USJ.” Uraraka said.  The two didn’t seem to be doing anything in particular, but Riolu had sat up, which was a start.  At least he wasn’t being a brat today.

_ Though, if Eevee is anything like how Uraraka described, they might be a good fit. _ Izuku couldn’t help but think.  They could be brats  _ together. _

Eventually, Eevee stood back up, and looked like she was about to head back over.  Just before she walked away, however, the pokemon turned around, dragging her fluffy tail under Riolu’s chin, before winking and walking away.

“Huh?” Izuku said, confused as to what had just happened.

“Eevee!” Uraraka squeaked out, her voice high pitched.  Izuku looked over, and saw that her face was burning a bright pink.  The pokemon just looked at her trainer, a smug expression on her face.

_ What just happened? _ Izuku thought, completely dumbfounded by the entire situation.  He shook his head, deciding to forget about it.

“W-well, I think it’s time to head back so that we can get to class.” Uraraka said, standing up abruptly.  Izuku pushed himself to his feet as well, but he suddenly felt a little sad. Part of him knew he needed to go to class, but the other part of him wanted to stay longer.

Even if he got unreasonably flustered by Uraraka’s attire, he still wanted to sit around and enjoy more time with his friend.  Now that he thought about it, it had been that way for a little while now. He just felt a little happier whenever he was with her.

It was like being around her made him feel more at ease, like nothing could go wrong.  She truly was his best friend, wasn’t she? He didn’t know anyone that he’d rather spend his free time with.

They got ready to head back, and as he and Riolu were about to leave, Izuku looked over his shoulder.

“Uraraka?” He called out, not knowing where he was going with this ridiculous idea.  Uraraka turned around, and Izuku gulped.

“I-I think that outfit looks really good on you.” He said, his face going bright pink.

Uraraka jumped back as if she’d been scared by his statement, “T-thanks! S-see you at school!” She squeaked, before turning heel and speed walking away.


	18. Training

**Training**

* * *

 

Izuku and All Might started meeting up for after school training sessions that Friday.  That meant that Izuku would be training  _ twice _ a day, every day, in addition to his normal schoolwork.  He got up every morning and trained with Uraraka for about an hour before school, and now he’d be also training for about an hour after school as well. 

“Play, let’s start off with something simple.” All Might said.  He was in his powered down form, but that didn’t matter, since they were alone at one of the training grounds.  The entire area was forested, surrounded by a towering wall. The sun was still in the sky, but considering that it was after school, it wouldn’t stay that way for very long.

“Let’s try activating One for All like you did at the USJ.” All Might continued.  Izuku nodded, looking to Riolu, who was standing next to him. Izuku tried to recall how it felt, but it wasn’t all that easy.  The first time, it had been in the spur of the moment, done on instinct. 

Izuku took a deep breath, reaching out towards that well of power.  He felt it prod at his consciousness, trying to get in. Recalling what he did differently last time, instead of reaching out and grabbing for the power, he just let it...flow.  

The effect was instant.  Izuku felt the soreness in his arms and legs disappear, and all the tiredness from the day completely disappeared. Izuku looked down, seeing light green sparks coiling off of both his and Riolu’s skin. 

Excited, Izuku jumped up in a combination of surprise and glee.  Just as he did, the sparks disappeared and Izuku was back in his own head. 

“Huh?” Izuku said, looking down at himself, “What happened?”

“You lost concentration.” All Might piped up.  Izuku looked over to his mentor as he continued, “One for All is a connection.  It requires the focus of both of you to be in sync for it to work. If you break your concentration for even a moment, it will fail.” 

Izuku hummed, looking down at his feet, “So when I got excited that it worked, it broke.” he concluded.  All Might nodded.

“Try again.”

Izuku reached out for One for All, and this time, now that he knew how it felt, it was a bit easier.  Power washed over him and he fell into the limbo between his own and Riolu’s consciousnesses. Focusing on keeping the bond active, Izuku devoted his entire mind to the task.  Even so, he couldn’t help but feel a need to  _ move _ .  

“Good.” All Might’s voice came after Izuku had held the connection for a few moments.  Izuku looked up, Riolu’s head matching his motion.

All Might looked taken aback for a moment, before sighing, “Now I know what they meant be ‘that’s creepy’.” He said under his breath. Izuku tilted his head, Riolu’s head moving in perfect sync.

“What do you mean?” he asked.  All Might just shook his head.

“One of the most important parts of learning to use One for All is to control your movements separately.  While moving in perfect synchronization is the easiest way to use it, it’s not exactly the most practical.” All Might explained.

“Moving in…” Izuku muttered, only just now realizing that he and Riolu had been moving in sync the entire time. He tilted his head, Riolu following the motion as well, “How do we do that?”

All Might put his finger to his chin, thinking.  After a moment, he spoke up, “It’s hard to describe.  The way that my mentor was able to do it was different than the way I did it, so it may be different for you.  It’s something that you’ll need to figure out on your own. For me, it was like taking a paper and ripping it in half.  One side was me, and the other side was Lucario. You’re separate entities, but it’s still the same piece of paper, right?” 

“Like a piece of paper…” Izuku thought, nodding.  He looked up to his mentor, “I think I’m ready to try.”

“Good,” All Might pointed to one of the trees nearby, “Have Riolu jump up to that branch while you keep your feet on the ground.”

Izuku and Riolu walked over to the tree in question, looking up at it.  The branch that All Might had pointed to was at least seven feet off the ground.  Izuku had no doubt that Riolu would be able to make it up with a One for All empowered leap, but it was still a daunting task.

“Think of the paper...think of the paper.” Izuku focused all of his attention on the task, focusing on the feeling of his feet on the ground.  Taking a deep breath, Izuku prompted Riolu to go for the jump. Riolu kicked off the ground.

And only rose about a foot into the air before falling back to the ground again with a yelp.  One for All’s green sparks sputtered out as the bond broke. Izuku immediately realized his mistake.

“I was focusing too much on keeping my feet on the ground that I didn’t keep the focus I needed to maintain One for All.” Izuku muttered, chastising himself.  A moment later, he felt a hand clap down on his shoulder.

“I didn’t expect you to get it on the first try, so don’t go too hard on yourself.” All Might said, flashing a smile. Even despite All Might’s kind words, Izuku couldn’t help but feel bad about making such a simple mistake.  If he couldn’t get a grasp on this, how was he going to perform well at the Sports Festival in a few weeks?

“Let’s go again.” All Might removed his hand from Izuku’s shoulder, taking a few steps back.

Izuku worked for the next hour or so on figuring out how to separate his and Riolu’s consciousnesses.  Every time he felt like he was getting a grasp on it, it slipped away from under his hands. 

One time, he’d managed to make the separation actually work.  He’d felt himself snap into his own body, looking exclusively through his own eyes, feeling his own senses.  Riolu’s side of the bond was still there, but it felt..far away, like he could reach out and grab it if he wanted to.  When he’d gotten into that state, he’d been able to easily keep his feet on the ground while Riolu jumped into the tree with no problem.

In his excitement, Izuku lost his concentration on the bond and One for All fizzled out.  When he’d tried to make the separation again, he couldn’t figure out how to replicate it. 

“I think it’s time we call it quits for today.”  All Might said, “We can get back at it tomorrow, and it’s getting dark.”  Izuku looked at the sky, seeing that the sun was beginning to fall beyond the horizon.  As much as Izuku wanted to get this down, he knew that his mother would die from worry if he was out too late.

Nodding, Izuku gestured to Riolu to follow them as they started to walk back towards the school.  Izuku and his mentor walked in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds between them being the soft padding of feet on the gravel trail.

As Izuku walked, he felt his thoughts start to drift.  Not only to the sports festival that was coming up, but other things as well.  The first thing that popped into his head was Mew, who, Izuku realized, had been watching on for the entire training session from one of the nearby trees.

The pink pokemon seemed to have taken some kind of interest in him for some reason.  Mew liked to follow Izuku around everywhere, even in school sometimes. It would play pranks on him by randomly stealing objects off his desk during class, or making funny faces above the teacher while they were talking, forcing Izuku to keep himself from laughing.  It even slept in his room on most nights.

Many would consider Mew Izuku’s pokemon by now, especially if they saw its behavior.  The problem was, when Izuku had brought it up, Mew had practically ignored his question, slapping one of Izuku’s spare ultra balls out of his hand with its tail, making its message clear.

It didn’t want to be caught, yet, Mew insisted on staying around, making appearances more and more often.  It was quite an awkward position to be in. Izuku couldn't really start using Mew during class exercises because, well, he had no idea if Mew would actually be there during the exercises.  Not to mention that he had no idea what moves Mew had, whether it would listen to him, or how his classmates would react.

Then there’s the problem of Mew being so powerful that it had single handedly taken out an entire group of villains in one attack.  That was also a problem. 

Izuku had heard of people being friends with pokemon without actually catching them before, as it wasn’t all that uncommon.  A lot of the time it was due to an immense amount of trust between the human and the pokemon, as well as a bunch of other factors that varied from case to case.  Perhaps that was what his relationship with Mew would become. That wasn’t even considering the fact that nobody in recorded history had any recollection of this pokemon, but thinking about that made his head hurt.

After Mew, Izuku found his mind drifting to Uraraka.  The previous few mornings, even if it had only been for an hour with minimal conversation, had been some of the most enjoyable hours that Izuku could remember.  He never really...had friends like that. Friends that he felt comfortable around, that he felt comfortable talking to about whatever was on his mind.

Ever since that fated day that they met at the entrance exam, she’d been there for him.  She’d seen him at his weakest, and had been there to make him stronger. She just seemed so...upbeat and supportive so often.  

What was this feeling in his chest?  

“Young Midoriya, do you have something on your mind?” All Might’s voice drew Izuku out of his thoughts.  He saw his mentor smiling back at him.

“Oh, yeah I do, I suppose.” Izuku muttered, kicking a rock at his feet, “Stupid teenager stuff, I guess.”  
“I was a stupid teenager once, if you want to talk about it.” 

That caught Izuku off guard.  Looking into All Might’s eyes, he could tell that he was genuinely interested. It wasn’t feigning some sort of interest, Izuku could tell that he actually cared.  With a deep sigh, Izuku made the decision to trust All Might.

“This is just all so...new.  These last few months have been both the hardest and best weeks of my life. I finally have a pokemon, I’m training to become a hero, everything I’ve ever wanted since I was a kid is starting to fall together.  That’s not it, though.” Izuku took a deep breath, “I was always so alone as a kid. Nobody really wanted to talk to the weird kid that freaked out once a pokemon got within a few feet of him. It was just me, my notebooks, and my mom.”

Izuku looked up from the path in front of him, turning his head to the sky, “This is the first time that I’ve really ever felt like I belong somewhere.  I have friends, I have a  _ best friend _ .  I’ve never had a best friend.  She’s so supportive, so nice, I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“You’re talking about young Uraraka.” All Might interjected.  Izuku felt his face heat up, confirming All Might’s suspicion.  The older man just smiled mischievously. Izuku nodded with a sigh.

“I don’t know what it is, there’s just this feeling I get in my gut whenever I’m around her.  Like everything is going to be okay, that even if I’m down, she’ll be there to pick me back up.  We haven’t even known each other for a year yet, and I still feel more comfortable with her than anyone else.” Izuku took a deep breath, recovering from his long-winded rant before continuing, “I don’t know how to explain it.”

All Might patted Izuku on the shoulder with a large hand, laughing, “Not being able to explain it is a good thing.  Now, let me give you some advice, young Midoriya.” He pulled him to a halt, looking Izuku in the eyes seriously, “If young Uraraka is special to you, if she’s that person closest to you, then don’t make the same decision I did.  Don’t shove them away, let them in. Don’t make the same mistake I did, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

All Might didn’t wait for a response, immediately taking off at a stride, walking through the exit of the training ground, “I suggest you do some thinking tonight, young Midoriya!  These things are things you need to discover on your own!” he called as he walked off, leaving Izuku staring after him in a mix of confusion and understanding.

* * *

 

Ochako crashed onto her couch as soon as she got back to her apartment.  With a groan, she stared at the ceiling. Reaching to her belt, Ochako tapped the three buttons on the three pokeballs, releasing all of her pokemon so that they could have some time out of their balls.

She should be doing  _ something _ , but she just didn’t want to.  Every day had been a constant loop of exhaustion, and she just felt like she needed a  _ nap _ . She’d wake up in the morning and workout for at least an hour, only to go right to school.  At school, she’d have her normal schoolwork, then during the time that Heroic Basic Training would happen, they’d be released to got train individually.

Ochako had been going to the gym and working with different people in her class, either on physical fitness or sparring, both hand to hand and in pokemon battles.  Izuku would normally train with the rest of the class. Usually, they’d train with the class and then Izuku and Ochako would walk to the train station together. Today, however, Izuku hadn’t trained with the rest of the class.  Instead, he’d left early, telling her not to wait up for him, as he might go a little longer anyways. That left her to walk home alone.

It was probably for the best, anyways.  She was basically just a bundle of nerves at this point, ready to snap at any moment.  There was just so much  _ stress _ on her plate right now that she didn’t know what to do.  Between preparing for the sports festival and training outside of class with Izuku, she was on the brink of self destructing.  She was always sore, she was always exhausted, and hardly ever got any freetime to herself. 

Then, there was the mental exhaustion. It wasn’t because any of her classes or anything. She wasn’t having any problems with the normal school courses, and she liked to think of herself as a good student.  No, the problem was because of Izuku.

He hadn’t done anything wrong, it was all her.  She doubted that he even knew about the turmoil she’d been facing since her...realization. Her realization that she was in love.  Now that she thought about it, it had been pretty obvious for a while now, she’d just been oblivious to her own feelings. 

She’d tried to distance herself over the last few days, but it had proven to be far from an easy task.   She thought that if she could keep at a distance and not interact very much for a week or so, that the feelings would blow over and everything would go back to normal.  All she needed to do was keep herself detached whenever she was interacting with Izuku, while also keeping interactions to a minimum.

Except, every time she tried to do any of those things, she caved.  She couldn’t help but be happy and giddy while around Izuku, and they were around each other far more than she’d realized before.  They got up and exercised in the morning, had class together, went to lunch together, trained together again, and texted at night when they were out of class.  It was such an emotional drain to constantly be around someone she cared about so much, but knew she couldn’t be with. It hurt, and she wanted it to stop.

Yet, she still couldn’t.  She felt bad if she didn’t text him back, she felt bad if she tried to distance herself when he was just being so friendly.  Being around him in general made her resolve crumble. Maybe it was just a lost cause and she’d need to just deal with herself for the rest of eternity.

_ Bzzt Bzzt _ the sound of her phone buzzing made Ochako groan, turning her head to look over at the device.  Reaching her arm out, Ochako tried to grab for the small flip phone, only to realize it was just a  _ little  _ too far away.

“Come on!” She pouted, letting her arm drop down.  Shifting her weight, Ochako prepared to get up to grab her phone.  To her surprise, she didn’t need to. Eevee got up from her spot on the ground a few feet away and rushed over.  She grabbed Ochako’s phone off the coffee table (using her mouth), and cantered over, dropping it on the ground next to Ochako.

Ochako smiled, rubbing Eevee’s head affectionately, “Thanks…” She wiped off the slobber and took a look at who the message was from.  As soon as she did, she didn’t know whether or not she should groan or be happy.

_ Sorry I left you to walk home alone today. I won’t be training with the rest of the class for the next week leading up to the sports festival, but we should be able to meet up for walking back to the station!  _ The text from Izuku read. WIth a sigh, Ochako shut her phone, not wanting to respond yet.  She couldn't just  _ not _ respond, but she didn’t know what to say yet. Looking down at Eevee, Ochako sighed when she saw the state of Eevee’s fur.  Even if it happened today in particular, the pokemon had been spending a  _ lot  _ more time around Izuku’s Riolu recently.  Essentially every chance they’d had during training, Eevee had been sparring, even if it was obvious that she was grossly under-skilled to be taking on a fighting type like Riolu.  Still, she insisted on throwing herself at the problem and getting rowdy. Which also meant Ochako had to brush it.

Ochako patted the couch next to her, and Eevee jumped up immediately, knowing exactly what was next.  Ochako grabbed the brush from the coffee table and Eevee crawled into her lap. Carefully, Ochako started running the brush down Eevee’s body, eliciting a happy pur.  While Ochako ran the brush up and down, she found herself thinking about Izuku. Again.

She needed to make a decision, and this next text was going to be what decided her fate.  Either she could just keep going how things had been, slowly letting herself succumb to the feelings, or she could distance herself even more.  She could essentially avoid Izuku for a week, or however long it took for her to get over her feelings, and everything would go back to normal afterwards.

“What am I gonna do?” She said to the air. Togekiss, who was perched on one of the wooden rafters on the ceiling, just looked down at her with beady black eyes, and Clefairy was nowhere to be found.  Eevee just sat still, her eyes closed on Ochako’s lap. Knowing her, she was probably already asleep. This was a decision she’d have to make on her own.

Hesitantly, she wrote out her message.  Well, she wrote it out, deleted it, then rewrote it until she found something that worked. 

‘ _ It’s fine.  Actually, there was something that I wanted to ask you.  Can we do our warm ups separate in the morning? There’s something I want to work on and keep a secret.’ _ She hit send.  It was a total lie, she didn’t have something to work on.  

She was going to distance herself until the feelings went away, even if it hurt.  She’d take it slow at first, one step at a time. First, she’d start working out in the morning separately, then she’d start eating lunch separately.  It would be a slow process, but she’d spend less and less time with Izuku until she had her feelings sorted out.

Ochako’s phone buzzed, signaling that Izuku had texted back.

‘ _ That’s fine’ _ it read.  Ochako let out a sigh, sinking back into the couch.

It was going to be a hard few days, but she’d get through it.  Looking down to Eevee, Ochako sighed, shaking her head softly.

“Sorry, girl, but you’ll have to deal with a few days away from Riolu.”  Eevee just ran her head up against Ochako’s hand, purring softly. Ochako let herself sink into the couch cushions, trying to fall asleep.

* * *

 

Izuku was able to go on a longer run the next morning, now that he was back to working out alone.  He had actually been enjoying the morning workouts in tandem with Uraraka, but she’d requested to go separately, and he completely understood why.  He was practicing separately at the  _ end _ of the day for a very similar reason, after all. 

Izuku and Riolu game to a stop outside of his apartment, so he ran inside and got a drink of water, before quickly leaving with his bag in order to make it to the train on time.  He walked at a quick pace, making it to the train station a couple of minutes early. He put Riolu in his pokeball, boarding the train.

At the next stop, Uraraka boarded the train, just like she normally had before their morning workouts began.  Izuku pushed through the crowd towards his friend, apologizing to everyone he accidentally shoved.

Izuku tapped on Uraraka’s shoulder, “Good morning!” He greeted. Uraraka turned to him, flashing a smile.

“Good morning, Deku.” Her voice was a bit flat, not her usually cheery tone. She didn’t continue the conversation, either, instead opting to stare out the window awkwardly. A few minutes of awkward silence and Izuku couldn’t take the tension anymore.

“Soo…” He started, “How was your training this morning?”

Uraraka hummed, “It was good.” She didn’t elaborate, letting the conversation fall flat again.  Izuku didn’t know why she was so...quiet. Uraraka was hardly ever quiet, yet at the moment, she felt like a wall to try to talk to.

“Is there something wrong?” He eventually asked, once again not able to take the tension.   Uraraka just shook her head as the train came screeching to a halt.

“This is our stop.” She said, walking out of the train in a hurry, not even waiting for Izuku as she left the train and then the train station.

_ What’s with her? _ Izuku thought as he walked quickly to catch up.

The rest of the day went pretty similarly.  Everyone went through their classes as normal, but every time Izuku tried to talk to Uraraka, the conversation was over just as fast as it had started, and the awkward tension in the air never left.

Eventually, lunch came around, and Uraraka kept her eyes mostly on her plate through the entire course of the lunch hour, skirting away from conversation just as she had that morning.  

_ Maybe she’s just having a bad day? _ Izuku thought, shaking his thoughts clear.  That’s probably what it was. When the school day ended and everyone split off to go train, Izuku waved goodbye to Ochako as he made his way towards the same training ground as the day before to train with All Might.

* * *

 

“Let’s try jumping to the branch again.” All Might said as soon as Izuku made it to the training grounds.  Izuku nodded his head, setting his bad down and letting Riolu out of his pokeball. Izuku nodded again, positioning himself by the very same tree they’d been training with yesterday.

And, just like yesterday, the attempts at separating his and Riolu’s consciousnesses failed over and over again, not able to find a way to split themselves.  Picking himself from the ground for the upteenth time, Izuku sighed.

“I can’t figure it out!” Izuku sighed in frustration, pounding his fist lightly on the ground.  Nothing was coming out of this practice except for gravel marks on his hands. On the brightside, he was a lot more experienced with activating One for All quickly now.

All Might hummed, thinking as Izuku got up, “Perhaps we need to take a different approach.  Tell me, what did you do to change how you activated One for All in the first place?” 

Izuku tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

“What were you thinking when you went from using One for All and breaking your bones to what it is now?” All Might said.

_ What was I thinking… _ Izuku thought back on that moment before the Nomu attacked him at the USJ. Suddenly, the answer seemed clear.

“I really wasn’t.  If I had to put an idea to it, it was like my body just  _ knew _ what to do when I was in that highly dangerous situation.” Izuku said.  In that moment, he’d just let his body do what it wanted to do, he hadn’t thought about it.  He’d just  _ done  _ it.

All Might paused, before smiling and reaching for his belt.  He tapped the center button on one of his pokeballs on his belt, and out came a flash of white light.  This time, however, it wasn’t Lucario. It was All Might’s oddly colored Braviary.

“Young Midoriya, I’m sure you’ve heard about my friend here before, but this is the first time you’re properly meeting.  Braviary, this is my successor, Midoriya Izuku.” All Might gestured to Izuku, who just waved awkwardly.

Braviary, just as a trait of their pokemon species, looked naturally ferocious.  The massive wingspan in tandem with its immense size for a bird made it seem terrifying at first, but seeing All Might scratch it under its jaw made it seem so much more...approachable.  Of course, Izuku couldn’t really approach it anyways, else his...problem start acting up.

All Might bent over and whispered into Braviary’s ear for a moment, before turning to Riolu, motioning him forwards, “Riolu, would you be so kind to climb onto Braviary’s back? Do not fret, you shall not fall unless he wishes for you to.”  Riolu obliged, hopping onto the large bird’s back. Braviary took flight not a moment later, launching into the air with one powerful flap.

“Now, Izuku, activate One for All, and under no circumstance are you to abandon it.” All Might instructed, and Izuku nodded, feeling uneasy but trusting his mentor.  Izuku reached out towards the well of power, and Riolu reached back, the green lightning cackling.

Izuku saw through two sets of eyes at once.  Through his own, he saw the trees of the battle training, and through the others he saw Braviary’s back as he and Riolu gained altitude.  

Then, the world flipped upside down as Riolu was sent flying off of Braviary’s back when the Pokemon flipped upside down mid flight.  Izuku fell to the ground as his limbs moved in a panic.

“Young Midoriya, you said that you work well under stress.  So, catch him.” All Might pulled Izuku to his feet, giving him a light nudge forwards.  

Everything felt weird.  He was both standing on hard land and sailing through the air at the same time.  Every time he tried to take a step forwards, he lost his balance and almost feel to the ground again.  

To save Riolu, he’d need to either break One for All’s bond, or he’d need to split their consciousnesses, and if he broke One for All’s bond, he’d be missing the entire point of the training exercise.  No, he had to do this the right way. 

Riolu was falling  _ fast _ .  He was spinning in the air, but Izuku got a glimpse of the tree canopy, and it was getting  _ a lot _ bigger,  _ a lot _ faster.  

He tried to mentally pull himself away, he tried to narrow his field of reference, and he even tried ripping the paper like All Might had suggested.  None of it worked. He was still split between two bodies, and he couldn’t figure out a way to stop it. Riolu was falling  _ fast _ and there wasn’t anything he could do.

WIth one last effort, Izuku closed his eyes and visualized One for All’s unique feeling.  He was connected to this power source, and Riolu was also connected to his own. Most likely One for All’s part of both of their bodies.  Then, there was what connected that body of power. It felt like an arcing green energy, not unlike the sparks coiling off his skin.

Tightening his focus, Izuku looked at the arc between the sources again, feeling for something,  _ anything _ .  Then, it all clicked.  The arcs between the sources, that was the bond between him and Riolu.  It was like a string, holding them together. So, without any time to think, Izuku did the first thing that came to mind.

He cut the string.

Suddenly, the world shot back into place.  He was in his own body, not split between two.  He could see out of his own eyes, but at the edge of his consciousness, he could still feel Riolu’s side of the bond.  He’d cut the string, but it was still the same string. He’d split their consciousnesses, but the bond was still active.  The green arcs coiling off his skin was evidence enough.

Panicking, Izuku looked to the sky in search of his partner. Normally, it would’ve been difficult to pick the blue pokemon out amongst the blue sky, but he still had One for All’s bond to reference.  It was almost like magic how Izuku’s eyes shot to Riolu, tumbling through the air. Izuku kicked off into a sprint, running faster than he’d ever ran without the bond.

One for All’s affect on his own body wasn’t nearly as great as it was for Riolu, it wasn't like it was a superpower, but it was substantial enough that he made it to where Riolu was going to land with time to spare.  Putting his arms out, Izuku braced for impact.

Riolu crashed into Izuku’s arms and chest, forcing him into the ground and onto his back.  Izuku’s breath got knocked out, but he didn’t relinquish his hold on One for All. With a groan, he sat up, Riolu in his lap.  He smiled at his partner.

“We did it, bud!” Riolu nodded happily, jumping up out of Izuku’s lap.  Izuku also stood up and turned around to see All Might striding towards them, Braviary flapping above him

“That was probably not very good of me to throw that at you out of the blue.  It even seems like an Aizawa thing to do, but…” He smiled, “It worked. And don’t worry, Braviary was ready to catch him at a moment’s notice, had anything gone wrong.”

Izuku let out a sigh, “Doesn’t change the fact that it was scary.”  

All Might let out a hearty laugh, “That it was, but it had to be done, I believe.  Now, what changed this time, compared to last time?”

Izuku shrugged, “I didn’t think.  I think that I’ve been thinking  _ too  _ much.  One for All isn’t some crazy technology that needs to be analyzed.  It’s just…a tool.” All Might ruffled Izuku’s hair.

“That it is, my boy, that it is.”   

As Izuku walked back towards the exit of the practice zone, he couldn’t help but smile.  He was one step, even if it were small, closer towards his goal. Towards his goal of mastering One for All and becoming a great trainer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm finally back here, and merry christmas/holidays/whatever you celebrate! I hope you enjoy this chapter. Also, I finally have a tumblr that I made almost exclusively because people told me I should. I'll be posting updates on story progress and ideas there, so follow me if you want to keep up to date. And if you want, send me any bnha//pokemon art you can find. Anyways here's my page! bakufan15.tumblr.com


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